LIBRARY 

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<w 


Essays,  Speeches,  and  Memoirs 


UNIFORM  WITH  THIS  VOLUME. 


LITTERS  OF  FIELD-MARSHAL  COUNT  HELMUTH  VON 
MOLTKE  TO  HIS  MOTHER  AND  HIS  BROTHERS. 
Translated  by  Clara  Bell  and  Henry W.  Fischer.  Portraits 
and  Illustrations.    8yo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  "WAR  OF  1870-71.  By  Field-Marshal 
Count  Helmuth  von  Moltke.  Translated  by  Clara  Bell  and 
Henry  W.  Fischer.  With  a  Map  and  Portrait.  8vo,  Cloth, 
$3  00. 

MOLTKE  ;  HIS  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER.  Sketched  in  Jour- 
nals, Letters,  Memoirs,  a  Novel  and  Autobiographical  Notes. 
Translated  by  Mary  Herms.  With  Illustrations  from  water- 
colour  and  black  and  white  Sketches  by  Moltke.  Portraits 
and  Fac-simile  Letters.    8vo,  Cloth  extra,  S3  00. 


Published  by  HARPER  ft  BROTHERS,  New  York. 

U^eF  The  above  works  are  for  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  will  be  sent 
by  the  publishers,  postage  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States, 
Canada,  or  Mexico,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


ESSAYS,    SPEECHES 


AND 


MEMOIRS 


OP 


Field-Marshal 
COUNT  HELMUTH  VON  MOLTKE 


THE  ESSAYS  TRANSLATED  BY 
CHARLES  FLINT  McCLUMPHA, 
Ph.D.;  THE  SPEECHES,  BY  MAJOR 
C.  BARTER,  D.A.A.G. ;  AND  THE 
MEMOIRS,  BY  MARY  HERMS 


IN    TWO   VOLUMES 


Vol.  I. 


NEW  YOEK 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  FRANKLIN  SQUARE 

1893 


13 


Note. — Acknowledgment  is  due  to  Privy  Councillor  Streckert,  of  the  Imperial 
Railway  Administration  in  Germany,  who  has  carefully  edited  the  essay  entitled 
"  Considerations  in  the  Choice  of  Railway  Routes."  The  footnotes  which  he  has 
added  are  indicated  by  the  letters,  Str.  The  other  footnotes  throughout  the 
volume  are  for  the  most  part  from  the  pen  of  Moltke  himself. 

It  should  be  remarked  that  in  this  volume  the  terms  mile,  rod,  etc.,  refer  to  the 
German  scale  of  measurement,  unless  a  different  scale  is  expressly   mentioned. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


VOL.  I. 


PAGE 


Holland  and    Belgium    in  their   Mutual    Kelations   with 
each  other  since   their  separation  under   philip  ii., 

UNTIL   THEIR    Ke-DNION    UNDER    WlLLIAM    I.  .  .1 

Philip  II.  of  Spain  (p.  6) — William  of  Orange  (p.  9) — 
Revolts  of  the  Spanish  troops  (p.  10) — The  pacification  of 
Ghent,  and  its  results  (1576)  (p.  12) — Union  of  Utrecht 
(1579)  (p.  14) — The  Reformation.  Prosperity  of  Antwerp 
(p.  17)— Sacking  of  Antwerp,  1577  (p.  18) — Siege  of  Ant- 
werp, 1584-5  (p.  21) — Voyages  of  the  Dutch  (p.  22) — The 
Spanish  Netherlands  laid  waste  (p.  24) — The  florescence  of 
the  United  Netherlands  (p.  25) — Independence  of  the 
Netherlands  (p.  28) — The  House  of  Orange  (p.  29) — Louis 
XIV.  and  John  de  Witt  (p.  32)— William  III.,  Stadtholder 
(p.  37) — The  prosperity  of  the  Netherlands,  a  result  of  the 
war  (p.  37) — Fall  of  the  Netherlands.  William  IV.,  heir  of 
the  Stadtholder  (p.  38) — The  Prussian  Expedition  (1787) 
(p.  39) — The  reforms  of  Joseph  II.  (p.  41) — State  of  fermen- 
tation in  the  Austrian  Netherlands  (p.  42) — Interference  of 
France.  Death  of  Joseph  II.  (p.  47) — Popular  riots  in 
Brussels  (p.  48) — Union  of  Belgium  with  France.  The 
Batavian  Republic  (p.  51) — The  kingdom  of  the  Nether- 
lands, 1815  (p.  52) — Dissatisfaction  in  Belgium  (p.  54) — 
Reasons  for  the  separation  of  Belgium  from  Holland  (p.  56). 

An  Account  of  the  Internal  State  op  Affairs  and  of  the 

Social  Condition  of  Poland.         .         .         .         .         .59 

The  Polish  Constitution.  The  right  of  the  liberum  veto 
(p.  65) — The  Polish  Constitution,  the  election  of  king,  the 
senate  (pp.  66,  67) — The  Polish  Constitution.  The  right  of 
the  Confederation  (p.  69) — The  Polish  Constitution.     The 


vi  Contents. 

imperial  diet  (p.  70) — The  array.  Keligious  tolerance  (pp. 
71  -73) — The  rise  of  great  noble  families  (p.  75) — Fall  of  the 
lesser  nobles  (p.  78) — The  diminution  of  the  royal  power 
(p.  78) — Increasing  power  of  the  nobles  (p.  79) — The  mo- 
narchy of  the  nobles.  The  pacta  conventa  (p.  83) — The  elec- 
tion of  provincial  deputies  to  the  diet  (p.  84) — Stubbornness 
of  the  provincial  deputies  (p.  86) — The  religious  differences 
(p.  88) — The  condition  of  the  peasantry  until  the  sixteenth 
century  (p.  88) — The  bondage  of  the  peasants  (p.  90) — No 
middle-class,  no  trade  (pp.  93,  94) — Danzig,  the  only  com- 
mercialcityof  Poland(p.  95) — Characterof  the  Jewish  people 
(p.  97)_The  invasion  of  Poland  by  the  Jews  (p.  102)— Wealth 
and  power  of  the  Jews  (p.  102) — Stoppage  of  all  activity  of 
the  government  (p.  103) — Anarchy  at  home,  defencelessness 
abroad  (eighteenth  century)  (p.  105) — Condition  of  Poland 
after  the  death  of  Augustus  III.  (p.  107) — The  parties  :  the 
court  (1764)  (p.  109)— The  parties  :  thePotocki  (1764)  (p. 
Ill)— -The  parties  :  the  Czartoriyiski  (p.  Ill) — The  relation 
of  Austria  and  Prussia  to  Poland.  The  Turks  (p.  1 1 4) — A 
glance  at  the  development  of  Russia  (p.  116) — The  Czartori- 
jiski  make  overtures  to  Russia  (p.  119) — Stanislaus  Ponia- 
towski,  the  candidate  of  the  Russian  party  for  the  crown  (p. 
119) — Opposition  of  the  republican  party(p.  122) — The  Con- 
vocations diet,  1764  (p.  123) — The  diet  increases  the  royal 
power  (p.  126) — Stanislaus  Poniatowski  king  (p.  127) — End 
of  Poland  (p.  128)— The  Duchy  of  Warsaw  (p.  130)— The 
war  of  1812  (p.  134) — Results  of  the  partitions  for  the  in- 
habitants (p.  134) — Measures  taken  in  the  Austrian  portion 
of  Poland  (p.  137) — The  extension  of  the  Jews  in  the  Polish 
territories  (p.  139) — Various  business  occupations  of  the 
Jews  (p.  140) — Joseph  II. 's  care  for  the  Jews  (p.  143) — The 
Polish  provinces  of  Prussia  (p.  144) — The  Prussian  edict  of 
September  14th,  1811  (p  147) — Creation  of  a  free  peasantry 
in  Prussian  Poland  (p.  147) — Dissatisfaction  with  the  reforms 
(p.  149) — Great  success  of  the  Prussian  government  with  the 
Polish  possessions  (p.  152) — The  number  of  Poles  in  the 
territory  of  the  three  powers  between  which  it  was  divided 
(p.  153) — The  Russian  kingdom  of  Poland  (p.  155) — State 
of  affairs  in  the  Russian  kingdom  of  Poland  (p.  156) — 
Increasing  dislike  towards  Russia  (p.  160) — The  revolution 
of  1830-31  (p.  160). 

The  Western  Boundary        .         .         .         .         .         .         .165 

Gaul  under  Roman  rule  ;  conquered  by  the. Germans  (pp. 
169-171) — Separation  of  France  from  Germany  under  the 
Carolingian  dynasty  (p.  173) — The  language  boundary 
between  Germany  and  France  (p.  174) — Charles  the  Bold, 


Contents.  vii 

PAGB 

Duke  of  Burgundy  (p.  177) — Interference  of  France  in  the 
German  Reformation  (p.  178) — France,  during  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  (p.  179) — Louis  XIV. 's  policy  of  conquest  (p. 
181)  Louis  XIV.  and  the  German  princes  (p.  184) — Treaty 
of  Ximeguen.  Sacking  of  Strasburg  (p.  188) — Ammeistcr 
Dietrich  of  Strasburg,  a  German  patriot  (p.  188) — The 
desolation  of  the  Palatinate,  treaty  of  Ryswick  (p.  189) — 
Review  of  the  German  territory  seized  by  France  (p.  192) — 
Deterioration  of  German  spirit  by  French  influence  (p.  193) 
— Rise  of  the  German  "citizenship  of  the  world"  (p.  197) 
— Attitude  of  Frederick  the  Great  towards  France  and 
French  affairs  (p.  198) — Supremacy  of  French  culture  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolution  (p.  199) — The  participation  of 
the  Germans  in  the  French  Revolution  (p.  200) — The  desire 
of  conquest  of  the  French  republic  (p.  203) — Napoleon 
Bonaparte  Emperor  (p.  206) — The  Rhenish  Confedei'ation  ; 
Prussia's  defeat  (p.  208) — The  union  of  Romanism  with 
Slavicism  (p.  209) — The  war  of  emancipation  and  its  results 
(p.  210) — Germany  and  France  after  1815  (p.  214)— The 
citizen-king.  Desire  of  the  French  for  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine  (p.  217) — France  ever  meditating  to  attack  Germany 
(p.  21<S) — Warning  for  national  unanimity  (p.  219). 

Considerations  in  the  Choice  of  Railway  Routes      .         .  221 

Roadways  and  railways  (p.  227) — The  track  and  the  train 
(p.  229) — The  locomotive  (p.  231) — The  friction  between 
the  wheels  and  rails  and  in  the  whole  running  gear  (p.  2o3) 
— Rising  and  falling  grades  of  the  road  (p.  235) — Horse- 
power of  the  locomotive  (p.  235) — Speed  of  the  train  in 
motion  (p.  236) — Consumption  of  time  and  power  (p.  236) 
— Influence  of  the  weather  (p.  243) — Advantages  of  the 
level  road  (p.  244) — Passenger  and  goods  traffic  (p.  247) — 
Examples  of  grades  (p.  249) — Tariff  in  disadvantageous 
territory  (p.  252) — Curves  (p.  253) — Running  of  the  wheels 
on  curves  (p.  254) — Running  expenses  (p.  256)— Direction 
of  railway  lines  (p.  258) — Intermediate  traffic  ;  cost  of  con- 
struction (p.  260)— Inactivity  of  the  state  governments  at 
the  beginning  (p.  261). 

The  Eastern  Question. 265 

Germany  and  Palestine. 

Inheritance  in  Eastern  dynasties  (p.  271) — Difficulties  of 
a  division  of  the  Turkish  Empire  (p.  272) — A  Christian 
principality  of  Palestine  (p.  273) — Fewer  wars  in  modern 
times  (p.  276). 


viii  Contents. 

The  Country  and  People  of  the  Kurds. 

The  results  of  the  battle  of  Nizitin  for  Kurdistan  (p.  278) 
— The  geographical  position  of  Kurdistan  (p.  280) — The 
dwelling-places  of  the  Kurds  (p.  281) — The  people  of  the 
Kurds/p.  283). 

The  Military  and  Political  Situation  op  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

The  condition  in  Turkish  Asia  (p.  287) — Eesults  of  the 
withdrawal  of  Rescind  Pasha  (p.  292) — The  condition  of 
the  Turkish  army  (p.  293) — Austria's  attitude  towards  the 
Ottoman  Empire  (p.  296). 

Reschid,  Izzet,  and  the  Porte. 

Contrast  between  Izzet  and  Reschid  (p.  298) — Reasons 
for  the  faU  of  Izzet  Pasha  (p.  300)— The  future  of 
Ottoman  rule  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  (p.  301). 

The  Mouth  of  the  Danube. 

Difficulties  in  the  construction  of  a  canal  in  the  direction 
of  Trajan's  Wall  (p.  303) — Possibility  of  a  railway  in  the 
direction'of  Trajan's  Wall  (p.  307). 


HOLLAND    AND    BELGIUM. 


PREFACE. 

"  Holland  and  Belgium  "  is  the  first  article  which  the  Field-marshal 
had  published l  under  his  name  after  that  he  had  been  appointed 
second  lieutenant  on  the  general's  staff.  The  Belgian  Be  volution, 
the  immediate  sequence  of  the  July  Bevolution  in  Paris,  seemed  on 
the  point  of  setting  all  Europe  on  fire,  and  even  before  it  had  been 
brought  to  a  close  the  insurrection  in  the  East  also,  in  Warsaw,  was 
started.  It  is  obvious  that  these  events  must  have  interested  the 
clever  young  officer  in  the  liveliest  manner.  While  he,  eager  for 
action,  was  yearning  for  the  war  which  a  long  time  was  thought 
to  be  unavoidable,  he  was  also  searching  for  an  explanation  of 
the  great  events.  And  he  found  this  explanation,  as  he  mentions 
in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  dated  the  24th  of  December,  1830,  in 
the  history  of  the  Netherlands  which  he  specially  examined  with 
a  view  to  this  fact.  How  he  toiled  in  doing  this,  is  gathered  from 
this  same  letter,  where  he  says  :  "  I  have  read  over  a  thousand  pages 
in  quarto  and  four  thousand  in  octavo."  2 

Afterwards,  he  had  the  work  resulting  from  these  studies  printed 
as  a  brochure,  and  thus  experienced  the  disappointments  which 
every  young  author  has  to  undergo.  The  next  letter  to  his  mother, 
describes  in  a  pleasing  manner  what  these  are  : — 

"Berlin,  9th  January,  1831. 

"  All  the  sorrows  of  a  young  author  who  is  spoiling  for  a  publisher 
have  visited  me.  Thoroughly  impressed  by  the  value  of  our  work, 
we  are  astonished  to  hear  the  booksellers  talk  of  unsuccessful 
ventures,  of  the  depressed  condition  of  the  book  trade  to  which 
we  had  just  purposed  to  add  a  new  impetus  by  our  manuscript. 
The  ingratitude  of  the  man  whose  fortune  has  probably  been  made 
by  our  treatise  provokes  us,  and  we  would  withhold  our  light  from 
the  world,  did  not  an  impetuous  shoemaker,  to  whom  we  allotted  a 
lodging- place  in  the  hall  of  our  memory,  urge  with  scientific  fervency 
the  publication  of  so  extraordinary  a  work,  although  the  compensa- 

1  Berlin,  Posen  and  Bromberg,  printed  and  published  by  Ernst  Siegfried 
Mittler,  1831. 

2  A  second  work  also,  the  map  of  the  new  boundaries  between  Holland 
and  Belgium,  proves  what  unceasing  interest  ho  took  in  these  events. 

B    2 


4  Holland  and  Belgium. 

tion  be  only  three  ducats.  Three  ducats  !  I  am  ashamed  to  write  it 
down.  Three  ducats  for  three  hundred  years  of  history,  while  I 
receive  in  journals  superficial  scribbles  paid  at  the  rate  of  two 
louis  d'ors  per  sheet.  Eight  humbling  is  it,  indeed.  Meanwhile, 
I  doubt  not  for  a  moment  but  that  five  hundred  copies  will  be 
sold  for  review,  and  I  hope  that  you  all  will  contribute  your 
money  towards  it,  so  that  a  new  bonus  will  follow.  Anyhow, 
the  hope  of  seeing  one's  self  in  print  in  a  few  days  and  of  being 
had  in  all  respectable  bookshops  for  six  groschen — that  decides  it, 
especially  when  there  is  a  prospect  of  being  further  made  illustrious 
by  a  cutting  criticism. 

"  Yet  it  does  not  seem  proper  to  speak  of  one's  self  longer  than 
twenty  minutes  (cf.  C.  &  K.,  for  Ave  authors  like  to  cite  authorities), 
and  therefore  I  shall  only  say  further  that  my  immortal  work 
(when  I  say  work,  I  really  mean  a  brochure  of  Gustchen's  form), 
that  it  bears  the  title,  '  Holland  and  Belgium  in  Mutual  Relationship, 
etc.,'  and  is  adorned  with  our  illustrious  name.  .  .  . 

"Yours,  Helmuth." 


HOLLAND    AND     BELGIUM 

IN   THEIR   MUTUAL   RELATIONS,  FROM 

THEIR   SEPARATION,  UNDER 

PHILIP   II.,  TILL   THEIR 

RE-UNION,  UNDER 

WILLIAM    I. 

When  a  people  of  its  own  free  will  despises  the 
blessings  of  peace,  and  renounces  its  own  rights,  while 
at  the  same  time  rejecting  its  obligations,  when  sever- 
ing the  bonds  of  society  it  returns  to  the  primeval 
state  of  force,  in  a  word  when  it  launches  itself  upon  a 
sea  of  revolution — whose  course  cannot  be  directed 
by  any  human  intelligence,  and  for  whose  limitation 
mundane  events  must  be  united  with  the  genius  of  the 
greatest  men — then  is  it  right  for  us  to  search  for  the 
causes  which  give  rise  to  such  extraordinary  mani- 
festations. 

Indeed  only  the  unavoidable  necessity  of  the  pre- 
servation of  being  and  of  unalienable  human  rights, 
and  not  hope,  be  it  ever  so  alluring,  not  dissatisfaction, 
be  it  ever  so  well  based,  not  example,  be  it  ever  so 
near  at  hand,  can  move  a  people,  one  would  suppose, 
to  expose  itself  to  the  incalculable  casualties  of  anarchy, 
of  civil  war,  of  foreign  tyranny,  and  of  ruin.  For  the 
revolutions  which  in  their  time  of  duration  have  made 
even  the  worst  government  a  thing  to  be  wished  for 
again  have  led  quite  as  often  to  despotism  as  to  freedom. 

We  seek  in  vain  for  the  cause  and  the  consequent 
result  only  there  where  not  conviction,  but  passion, 
not  deep-felt  necessity,  but  interests  are  to  a  certain 
extent  the  springs  of  action  which  set  the  mass  in  motion. 


6  Holland  and  Belgium. 

The  fields  of  Belgium  drenched  with  blood  for 
centuries,  offer  us  to-day  the  spectacle  of  a  people  that 
takes  up  arms  against  its  ruler  and  against  its  country- 
men. The  flames  which  mount  the  ruins  of  Antwerp, 
are  now  illuminating  great  catastrophes,  and  Europe 
looks  for  the  decisions  which  are  weighed  in  the 
councils  of  its  courts. 

The  more  unexpectedly  the  scenes  are  presented 
before  our  eyes,  the  less  we  see  them  conditioned  by 
necessity,  and  so  much  the  sooner  do  we  direct  our  view 
to  the  period  which  preceded,  and  seek  amid  the 
history  of  the  world  for  the  key  to  events  which  seem 
apparently  to  be  unrelated  to  the  causes. 

Space  may  be  made  here  for  a  short  sketch  of  the 
epochs  which  both  neighbouring  countries  share  in 
their  internal  interests,  a  retrospect  of  the  events 
which  have  forcibly  separated  the  peoples  in  their 
religious  and  political  life,  in  their  customs  and  in  their 
civil  and  commercial  relations,  and  which  have  given 
birth  to  that  mutual  hatred,  irreconcilable  even  after 
sixteen  years  of  peaceful  government,  and  unmistakably 
participant  in  the  present  violent  attacks.  Without 
entering  into  an  extended  discussion  of  the  events,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  understand  the  principles  under- 
lying them,  in  order  to  explain  the  motives  which  gave 
so  contrary  a  direction  to  the  character  of  two  peoples 
seemingly  destined  by  their  common  origin,  by  their 
position  in  the  world  and  by  their  lot  to  form  one 
people. 

The  reign  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain  was  the  epoch  in 
which  the  southern  and  northern  provinces  of  the 
Netherlands  were  first  opposed  to  each  other,  when 
their  interests  began  to  be  separated  and  to  be  arrayed 
in  decided  opposition  to  each  other. 

This  monarch  united  under  his  sceptre  various 
Netherland  provinces  which  had  not  been  joined  since 
Caesar's  time,  and  were  not  again  until  the  time  of 
Napoleon. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  7 

He  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  this  rich  country  in 
its  most  nourishing  period,  but  in  the  eyes  of  such  a 
monarch  as  Philip  this  wealth,  this  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence and  arrogance  produced  by  prosperity,  and  still 
more  the  liberty,  under  whose  protection  alone  the 
former  had  sprung  up  in  a  mercantile  state,  were 
necessarily  a  limiting  barrier  to  his  despotism. 

The  chief  trait  in  the  dark  character-portrait  of 
King  Philip  of  Spain  was  insatiable  desire  for  power. 
Possession  of  territory,  of  which  the  Spanish  so  proudly 
said  that  the  sun  never  set  upon  it,  was  not  enough  for 
him  ;  he  stretched  his  hand  out  also  towards  Portugal, 
England,  France  and  Germany. 

But  Philip's  greed  for  power  went  further.  Not 
only  over  countries,  but  also  over  minds,  over  opinions 
did  he  purpose  to  reign.  Therefore  Catholicism  was 
to  him  the  surest  pledge  of  unlimited  power,  the 
Reformation  its  most  threatening  enemy.  To  an  un- 
yielding fatality  he  opposed  a  still  more  unyielding 
will,  and  even  if  we  find  the  motive  by  which  he  acted 
detestable,  we  cannot  refuse  to  admire  the  consistency 
with  which  he  acted  according  to  this  idea,  and  that 
too  during  a  life  of  seventy  years  and  a  reign  of  forty. 

But  a  people  thoughtful  by  nature  and  prosperous 
must  have  soon  felt  the  need  of  a  better  understanding 
of  religious  affairs,  and  civil  liberty  gave  rise  to  an 
early  desire  for  freedom  of  conscience.  So  great  was  the 
desire  for  this  that  already  during  the  reign  of  Charles 
V.  more  than  40,000  men — heretics  in  the  eyes  of  the 
authorities,  martyrs  in  the  eyes  of  a  vastly  greater  host 
of  secret  sympathizers  with  the  new  doctrine — ended 
their  lives  upon  the  scaffold.  Because  of  his  greatness 
men  suffered  this  monarch  to  do  that  which  was  no 
longer  pardoned  in  his  successor;  the  nation  forgot 
their  love  for  liberty  in  their  love  for  the  military 
glory  which  reflected  from  their  emperor,  their 
countryman,  upon  them  themselves,  and  furthermore 
his  political  ascendancy  secured  innumerable  advantages 


8  Holland  and  Belgium. 

to  their  business.  With  a  smile  did  the  emperor 
charm  the  people  at  Brussels,  upon  whose  property  he 
was  laying  his  hands,  and  from  the  midst  of  whom  he 
was  choosing  bloody  sacrifices. 

Not  so  with  Philip.  The  Dutchmen  demanded 
from  the  absolute  sovereign  of  the  proud  Castilians 
respect  for  their  mercantile  privileges,  for  the  chaotic 
state  of  their  local  rights  and  liberties,  they  demanded 
freedom  of  thought — the  very  thing  that  the  Catholic 
king  could  least  grant  them.  Despite  all  persecu- 
tions, the  light  of  the  new  faith  had  already  spread  so 
far  that  King  Philip  believed  that  he  must  meet  an 
evil  so  fearful  with  a  fearful  remedy.  This  was  the 
Spanish  Inquisition,  the  most  despicable  invention  of 
human  tyranny,  if  not  the  most  horrible  and  most  bloody. 

But  only  by  the  aid  of  an  army  could  such  an 
institution  be  forced  upon  the  people,  that  is  to  say, 
the  Netherlands  suffered  one  evil  through  another  evil. 
Both  were  attacks  upon  their  most  sacred  rights,  and 
forced  the  power  of  the  ruler  to  the  very  acme  of  des- 
potism.    The  people  rose  in  opposition. 

Philip  had  purposely  annoyed  and  repulsed  the 
Dutch  nobility.  This  time  it  was  the  noble  who 
kindled  the  flame  of  rebellion.  The  compromise,  the 
beggars'  league,  was  first  started  by  the  nobleman,  he 
protected  the  public  sermons,  and  iconoclastic  tumults 
themselves  were  his  work. 

So  we  behold  the  ruler  of  Spain,  Naples,  Sicily, 
Sardinia,  Milan,  of  a  part  of  the  Netherlands,  and  of 
kingdoms  in  America,  more  extensive  even  than 
Europe,  in  a  contest  with  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  a 
contemptible  corner  of  the  earth  scarcely  1000  square 
miles  in  area.  The  son  of  Charles  V.  employed  the 
victorious  armies  of  his  father,  the  greatest  generals 
of  his  time,  the  treasuries  of  both  Indias,  the  heroic 
youth  of  Spain  and  Italy,  and  the  good  fortune  of  his 
peoples  for  the  smothering  of  this  insurrection.  He 
lost  them  all,  and  more,  for  the  assassination  of  the 


Holland  and  Belgium.  9 

Prince  of  Orange  rests  upon  his  royal  honour.  Al- 
though nature  fixed  the  limits  of  his  days  afar,  yet  he 
did  not  survive  the  issue  of  this  struggle  which  em- 
bittered his  whole  life  for  almost  half  a  century,  and 
his  successor  inherited  along  with  an  unended  war  a 
debt  of  500  millions  which  had  already  been  squan- 
dered upon  it. 

But  the  point  which  we  are  to  make  especially 
prominent  as  a  result  of  this  great  tragedy  is  the 
Union  of  Utrecht. 

Ten  years  war  devastated  the  Netherlands,  which 
at  one  time  had  been  so  prosperous,  without  resulting 
in  a  decisive  victory  for  either  of  the  two  parties,  or 
essentially  changing  the  condition  of  affairs.  The 
history  of  all  the  transactions  on  both  sides  is  like 
that  of  a  city,  which  is  besieged  and  opportunely 
relieved,  or  in  case  it  falls,  is  retaken,  because  the  army 
of  the  enemy  has  not  been  slain. 

Indeed  the  Prince  of  Orange  made  two  campaigns 
against  the  Spanish  army.  With  one  army  of  hastily 
collected  and  undisciplined  troops,  which  was  haras- 
sing the  country  round  about,  he  challenged  to  battle 
the  most  victorious  general  and  the  best  soldiers  of  his 
time.  There  was  only  need  of  a  victory  on  open  field, 
and  everything  declared  itself  against  Alva  the  founder 
of  the  Blood  Tribunal  of  the  Twelve,  and  of  the  tenth- 
penny  tax.  The  hostile  castles  and  strongholds  then 
voluntarily  threw  open  their  doors,  and  the  war  was 
decided  with  one  blow  perhaps.  There  was  so  much  to 
win  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  could  afford  to  lose  one 
part  of  that  rabble  shrieking  after  j)ay,  which  a  few 
days  later,  nevertheless,  he  had  to  give  up,  because  there 
was  lack  of  gold,  and  because  the  whole  country  was 
being  devastated,  while  it  had  not  rendered  any  ser- 
vices for  its  monstrous  costs. 

But  the  Duke  of  Alva  surveyed  his  position  just  as 
thoroughly,  and  by  avoiding  the  battle  he  earned  all 
the  advantages  of  a  most  complete  victory. 


ic  Holland  and  Belgium. 

The  inhabitants  defended  their  posts  as  vigorously 
as  this  army  which  had  been  enlisted  under  the  flags 
of  the  Netherlands  proved  to  be  inactive  on  the 
open  field  of  battle.  Naarden's  chastisement,  and 
the  unparalleled  cruelties  which  were  perpetrated 
there  under  the  eyes  of  Don  Frederic  of  Toledo,  had 
left  no  hope  to  the  dwellers  in  the  cities,  threatened 
with  a  like  fate,  and  forced  them  to  become  heroes. 
Unprotected  localities  like  Haarlem,  Alkmaar  and 
Leyden,  withstand  all  efforts  of  the  victorious  enemy 
seven  months  ;  fleets  are  built  for  their  defence,  and 
the  very  sea  created  on  which  these  should  carry  on 
operations. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  under  Alva,  and  such 
they  continued  to  be  until  the  death  of  Requesens. 

The  death  of  this  distinguished  man  happened  so 
suddenly  that  he  did  not  have  time  to  appoint  his 
successor  in  the  oflice  of  chief  stadtholder.  Thereupon 
the  Dutch  council  of  state  took  possession  of  the 
government,  and  it  was  actually  approved  by  the 
king  for  a  time.  Of  course,  the  most  influential 
members  of  this  state  council  were  for  the  Spanish, 
but  these  were  removed  by  force  from  the  Orange 
party,  the  states  were  convoked,  and  immediately  a 
circumstance  happened  which  had  the  most  decisive 
influence. 

One  phenomenon  peculiar  to  this  war  was  the 
military  insurrections,  which  greatly  crippled  the 
undertakings  of  the  Spanish  generals,  being  at  the  same 
time  more  pernicious  to  the  loyal  provinces.  They 
were  the  natural  results  of  several  simultaneous  under- 
takings by  Philip,  who  little  by  little  became  involved 
in  quarrels  with  half  Europe,  and  thus,  notwithstand- 
ing all  silver  fleets,  drained  his  treasury  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  troops  waging  war  in  the  Netherlands 
received  their  pay  most  irregularly,  often  being  forced 
even  to  demand  it  for  three  years.  A  necessaiy  out- 
come of  such  a  state  of  affairs  was  that  the  soldier  was 


Holland  and  Belgium.  i  i 

forced  to  live  by  extortions  only,  and  from  the  property 
of  the  citizen  whom  he  should  have  protected. 

Meanwhile,  matters  came  to  such  a  pass  that  the 
average  man  began  to  murmur  openly,  to  refuse  to 
fulfil  his  services,  finally  to  drive  out  the  officers  as  a 
whole,  and  under  the  command  of  an  "  eletto"  from  his 
own  resources  to  wage  a  predatory  war,  at  his  own 
cost,  no  matter  whether  against  the  subjects  of  the 
king,  of  the  republic,  or  of  the  German  Empire. 

Neither  the  personal  appearance  of  the  Duke  of  Alva, 
nor  the  severity  of  the  laAvs,  was  able  to  oppose  the 
mutiny.  He  commanded  a  few  of  the  dissatisfied 
corps  to  be  surrounded  by  the  loyal  troops,  and  fifty 
of  the  rebels  to  be  hung  on  the  spot.  But  there 
was  soon  need  of  a  second  army  in  order  to  check  the 
dissatisfied  army.  Indeed  the  discipline  in  the  Spanish 
army,  which  had  become  the  first  in  Europe  because  of 
it,  and  which  had  the  severest  military  regulations  of 
all,  fell  so  low  that  among  other  things  Haarlem,  when 
hardly  yet  conquered,  was  offered  by  the  triumphant 
rebels  themselves  to  the  Prince  of  Orange  for  forty 
thousand  gulden.  The  city  of  Antwerp  was  forced  to 
buy  off  its  sacking  with  four  hundred  thousand  gulden, 
and  the  troops  being  contented  with  this,  returned  to 
their  duty  for  a  time  with  redoubled  zeal. 

But  after  the  death  of  Requesens  the  consummation 
of  the  evil  came.  Several  thousand  mutinous  soldiers 
took  Alost  and  from  this  centre  spread  pillage,  fire 
and  murder  over  all  Brabant  and  Flanders. 

There  was  now  issued  by  the  council  of  state  a 
formal  proscription  against  the  Spanish  army,  and  the 
people  were  called  upon  to  take  up  arms  and  expel  the 
soldiers  as  perjured  traitors. 

This  manifesto,  sent  out  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
was  undoubtedly  the  work  of  the  states  and  of  the 
Orange  party.  It  organized  the  civil  war  which  was 
then  waged  with  the  greatest  fury  imaginable,  and  it 
forced  even  the  most  peaceable  citizen  to  take  up  arms 


12  Holland  and  Belgium. 

for  a  cause  whose  last  place  of  refuge  up  to  this  time 
had  been  Holland  and  the  sea.  The  whole  nation  now 
for  the  first  time  rose  against  the  Spanish  army,  and 
the  Union  of  Ghent  was  concluded  (1576). 

All  the  Netherland  provinces,  except  Luxemburgh, 
entered  into  this  alliance,  and  the  Netherlands  then 
seemed  to  be  lost  to  the  Spanish  crown. 

But  although  the  provinces  had  been  united  in  name 
at  Ghent,  yet  the  factions  which  continued  to  exist  in 
them  had  by  no  means  been  reconciled.  One  is  able 
to  distinguish  three  chief  parties  at  this  period.  First, 
the  Spanish,  to  which  belonged  some  members  of  the 
noblest  families  and  which  was  supported  by  the 
formidable  Spanish  army ;  then  a  second,  which  can 
be  called  the  Catholics,  whose  seat  was  chiefly  in  the 
Walloonian  and  Flemish  provinces,  and  which  counted 
as  its  members  the  numerous  clergy  and  the  more 
numerous  host  of  those  held  under  the  guardianship  of 
the  clergy ;  finally,  the  Orange  party,  the  smallest, 
but  which  had  at  its  head  the  only  great  man  that  the 
Netherlands  possessed  at  this  period.  In  the  midst  of 
the  chaotic  complication  of  interests  and  events, 
William  of  Orange  continued  to  be  fully  conscious  of 
his  purpose,  and  neither  the  military  success .  of  the 
Spaniards,  nor  their  cunning  policy,  nor  distrust  of 
his  own  countrymen,  no  alluring  prospect  and  no  mis- 
hap ever  removed  him  one  single  step  from  the  path 
which  he  had  irrevocably  chosen  for  himself.  This 
party,  to  a  certain  extent  insured  by  the  geographical 
position  of  Holland  and  Zealand,  did  not  then  perhaps 
know  so  well  as  its  leader  what  it  really  wished,  but 
it  certainly  did  know  what  it  did  not  wish ;  it  com- 
bated less  for  freedom  than  for  liberties  and  privileges, 
more  for  property  itself  than  for  the  security  of  the  same. 
The  Hollanders  did  not  wish  so  much  to  be  their  own 
masters  as  to  protect  themselves  from  the  tyranny  of 
their  Spanish  masters,  and  thus,  without  a  definite  plan 
they  acted  more  consistently  than  all  the  other  factions. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  13 

In  consequence  of  such  disunion  very  little  can  be 
said  of  unanimous  resolutions.  And  the  proscription 
declared  by  the  council  of  state  was  by  no  means 
sufficient  to  terrify  the  most  riotous  military  force. 
The  affair  of  the  insurgents  of  Alost  had  now  rather 
become  that  of  the  Spanish  nation,  and  all  soldiers  that 
up  to  this  time  had  remained  true  to  their  flag  joined 
themselves  with  them.  They  elected  a  leader,  erected 
a  gallows  for  transgression  of  discipline,  and  then  with 
great  reverence  listened  to  a  mass.  Thereupon  the 
whole  furious  band  marched  against  Mastricht,  at  that 
time  a  place  of  twenty  thousand  inhabitants  and  a 
strong  fortress.  It  was  stormed,  plundered,  and 
almost  literally  razed  to  the  ground.  The  foolhardi- 
ness  of  the  revolters  went  even  further.  Antwerp,  the 
richest  and  the  largest  city  of  the  Netherlands,  the  most 
important  in  European  trade,  a  stronghold  which  soon 
afterwards  withstood  a  thirteen  months'  siege,  was, 
notwithstanding  the  defence  of  the  horrified  citizens, 
notwithstanding  the  Walloonian  and  German  garrison, 
taken  by  storm  in  one  afternoon,  pillaged,  burnt, 
and  given  up  to  the  most  fiendish  atrocities  and  de- 
baucheries. 

And  still  the  allied  provinces  could  not  unite  upon 
measures  to  sweep  from  the  country  this  gang  of 
about  fifteen  thousand  men.  They  sought  rather  to 
accomplish  it  by  the  recognition  of  Don  John  as  the 
chief  stadtholder,  and  by  the  treaty  of  the  "  Perpetual 
Edict,"  according  to  which  it  was  specially  stipulated 
that  all  Spanish  troops  should  vacate  the  soil  of  the 
Netherlands. 

And  to  please  the  state  Don  John  did  actually  per- 
form this  military-political  comedy,  that  is,  the  troops 
were  sent  away  to  be  recalled  in  a  few  months. 

The  governments  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  Holland  and 
Zealand  did  not  assent  to  the  new  treaty,  and  although 
the  "perpetual  edict"  after  three  months  had  out- 
lived   its    existence,   yet   it    had    essentially  annulled 


14  Holland  and  Belgium. 

the  Union  of  Grhent,  the  latter  continuing,  however,  in 
its  mere  form.  This  happened  furthermore  because  of 
the  alliance  of  the  Walloonian  provinces — Artois,  Henne- 
gau  and  Douai — for  the  preservation  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  All  this  finally  brought  the  negotiations  long 
fostered  by  the  prince  to  maturity,  and  the  Union  of 
Utrecht  was  concluded  and  announced  in  January  of 
1579.  Holland,  Zealand,  Guelderland,  Utrecht,  Fries- 
land,  Overyssel  and  Zutphen  were  joined  in  one  in- 
separable union,  and  mutually  coalesced  to  ward  off 
any  attack  from  without.  The  cities  of  Grhent, 
Antwerp,  and  Bruges  entered  into  the  alliance,  and 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  indeed  under  great  limitations, 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  this  new  state. 

Thus  the  Netherlands  were  divided  into  two  parts, 
one  of  which  returned  partly  of  its  own  accord,  partly 
by  force,  under  the  Spanish  yoke,  while  the  other 
openly  renounced  its  obedience  to  the  king,  which  in 
fact  for  the  past  thirteen  years  it  had  not  rendered 
him.  Therefore  it  was  no  longer  Spaniards  who  Avere 
contending  against  the  common  cause  of  the  Nether- 
lands, but  Netherlander  of  the  "Walloonian  provinces 
or  Flanders,  who  were  making  war  upon  their 
countrymen  in  Holland  or  Zealand,  and  in  truth  they 
soon  acted  with  such  bitterness  that,  for  example, 
they  murdered  all  the  Zealanders  who  happened  to 
fall  into  their  hands  while  accompanying  Prince 
Morice  to  Flanders. 

But  besides  the  political  attitude  which  all  the  pro- 
vinces united  at  Utrecht  had  taken  in  opposition  to 
the  rest,  there  was  also  the  religious  difference  which 
formed  a  chief  cause  of  division  among  the  people  of 
the  Netherlands.  This  difference  was  bound,  of 
course,  to  have  great  influence  at  a  period  when 
religion  determined  not  only  the  future  salvation  of 
the  soul,  but  also  the  entire  present  destiny,  when 
opinions  were  judged  far  more  severely  than  actions 
by  fire  and  sword,  and  belief  was  a  matter  both  of 
conscience  and  honour. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  15 

In  consequence  of  the  multifarious  modes  of  com- 
munication by  which  the  Netherlands  were  united  to 
other  countries,  by  sea  with  England  and  Denmark,  by 
navigable  streams  with  reformed  Germany  and  Switzer- 
land, they  could  hardly  remain  closed  to  the  doctrines 
of  Luther  and  Calvin.  Furthermore,  in  the  sober 
sound  sense  of  the  people,  the  reformation  found  a 
reception  as  much  more  welcome  as  the  immorality 
and  ignorance  of  the  Catholic  clergy  of  the  Netherlands 
and  laziness  of  the  monastic  orders  were  hateful  and 
contrary  to  the  taste  of  the  enlightened  active  citizen. 

The  violent  measures  which  were  used  against  the 
spreading  of  the  heresy  as  soon  as  its  surprising  exten- 
sion had  been  noticed  amounted  to  nothing.  The 
heroic  courage  with  which  many  confessors  of  the  new 
faith  died  for  this  teaching  proved  their  godliness  before 
the  eyes  of  the  multitude,  and  Philip  himself,  who  pre- 
ferred not  to  rule  at  all  rather  than  to  rule  over  heretics, 
found  himself  forced  to  change  the  public  burning  of 
these  heretics  to  a  private  execution,  because  a  hundred 
neAV  converts  sprang  from  the  blood  of  one  martyr  of 
the  new  faith.  The  inquisition  was  too  late  to  nip  the 
bud  of  the  evil  against  which  its  force  had  been 
directed,  and  the  impossibility  of  executing  its  sentences 
of  punishment  upon  half  the  nation,  resulted  in  its  soon 
becoming  as  much  despised  as  it  had  been  feared,  and 
in  its  surviving  only  a  short  time  its  introduction. 

However,  it  could  not  be  but  that  the  reformation 
enrolled  many  members  among  its  converts  who 
brought  little  honour  to  it.  Excesses  like  the  image- 
breaking,  which  in  a  few  days  despoiled  the  magnifi- 
cent cathedrals  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  and  which 
made  insolent  and  criminal  mockery  of  things  regarded 
heretofore  with  reverence  and  awe,  such  excesses  and 
errors  of  the  reformed  mass  injured  the  new  teaching- 
more  than  all  the  fires  of  the  Spanish  inquisition.  The 
crime  of  the  individuals  was  laid  to  the  religion  which 
they  professed  nominally,  and  since  the  patience  which 
is  so  essential  a  part  of  the  reformation  by  no  means 


1 6  Holland  and  Belgium. 

attended  it  in  its  first  appearance,  it  is  manifest  that 
that  part  of  the  people  which  had  remained  true  to  the 
old  faith  became  more  closely  united,  and  combined 
against  a  doctrine  from  which  it  had  experienced  such 
objectionable  usage. 

The  greater  part  of  the  provinces  of  the  Nether- 
lands having  relapsed  under  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Catholic  King,  the  reformation  party  needed  the  protec- 
tion which  William  of  Orange  had  granted  the  perse- 
cuted sect  quite  as  much  on  grounds  of  conviction  and 
for  the  sake  of  the  cause  itself,  as  for  political  reasons. 
His  clear  vision  recognized  in  the  reformation  the 
security  for  the  continuance  of  the  new  state  established 
by  him.  The  Spanish  armies  could  tear  from  him 
cities  and  conquer  provinces,  but  no  power  on  earth, 
in  defiance  of  better  judgment,  could  again  chain  the 
spirit  in  fetters  which  it  had  severed  once  for  all. 

In  Zealand  and  Holland  the  reformed  religion  was 
legally  recognized,  all  churches  were  given  up  to  it, 
and  every  other  public  religious  exercise  forbidden, 
without  therefore  persecuting  anyone  on  account  of  his 
opinion.  Moreover  a  vast  number  of  people  of  all 
classes,  having  been  expelled  from  Brabant  and 
Flanders,  by  the  intolerance  of  the  Spanish  rule,  fled  to 
the  united  provinces,  whose  national  wealth  they  in- 
creased by  their  property,  their  industry  and  skill,  or 
under  whose  flags  they  fought  against  their  per- 
secutors. 

If  under  these  circumstances  politics  and  religion 
were  of  equally  great  importance  in  bringing  about  a 
separation  in  the  interests  of  the  north  and  south  of  the 
Netherlands,  business  affairs  in  like  manner  produced  a 
still  greater  breach  in  the  divided  nation. 

The  history  of  Antwerp  is  in  general  that  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  Netherlands  of  this  period.  Perhaps  there 
is  no  city  which  can  point  to  such  a  tragic  destiny  and 
to  so  many  horrible  catastrophes,  from  the  time  of  its 
wonderfully  rapid  florescence  until  its  sudden  fall,   as 


Holland  and  Belgium.  17 

Antwerp,  which  has  become  so  interesting  because  of  ;i 
new  incident,  one  joined  to  those  already  mentioned. 

Antwerp's  prosperity  sprang  from  the  ruins  of  the 
world-wide  commerce  of  Bruges.  Emperor  Frederick 
III.  had  determined  to  give  this  latter  city,  from  the 
very  beginning  famous  for  its  revolts  and  rebellion,  a 
chastisement  which  would  thoroughly  cure  it  of  its 
mania  for  freedom.  He  was  completely  successful  in 
this,  and  while  he  kept  its  harbour,  Sluys,  closed  for  ten 
years,  the  entire  levantian  and  northern  commerce  had 
passed  over  to  Antwerp,  where  the  Hanseatic  league  at 
the  same  time  opened  its  office.  Antwerp  now  grew  in 
an  unparalleled  manner.  It  soon  counted  two  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  the  luxury  and  the  products  of 
all  parts  of  the  globe  poured  into  its  bosom,  and  what 
Venice  and  Genoa  had  been,  what  Amsterdam  and 
London  were  to  be,  that  was  Antwerp  in  the  fifteenth 
century. 

The  greatest  misfortune  for  the  city  was  the  reign  of 
Philip  II.,  the  intolerance  of  this  same  monarch,  the 
arbitrariness  which  endangered  security  and  property 
of  the  individual,  were  destined  to  inflict  upon  a  com- 
mercial city  where  everything  depended  upon  public 
confidence,  wounds  deeper  even  than  the  terrible  but 
transitory  catastrophes  which  happened  later.  These 
in  the  meantime  were  not  wanting. 

The  city  had  begged  the  government  for  the  Prince 
of  Orange  as  the  only  one  who  possessed  enough 
authority  to  keep  the  three  parties  of  Catholics, 
Lutherans  and  Calvinists  in  check,  while  all,  with 
equal  ardour,  hated  and  were  ready  to  attack 
each  other.  But  when  the  Prince  of  the  office  of 
Stadtholder  was  called  to  Brussels,  the  image-breaking 
broke  out  in  the  city  the  same  evening,  and  ended 
in  destroying  and  desecrating  one  of  the  most  magni- 
ficent cathedrals  of  Christendom. 

The  two  visits  of  the  mutinied  Spanish  soldiers 
were  hinted  at  above.     The  first  time  Don  Requesens 

vol.  1.  c 


1 8  Holland  and  Belgium. 

betook  himself  to  Antwerp,  but  by  no  means  in  order 
to  support  the  defensive  provisions  of  commander 
Champigny.  He  rather  let  the  rebels  in,  and  then 
offered  the  city  the  choice  between  plunder  or  payment 
of  a  compound  tax.  The  vexed  citizens  consented  to 
this  latter  demand,  and  the  Stadtholder  who  had  paid 
his  troops  in  such  a  convenient  way,  announced  to  them 
in  the  name  of  the  king  a  general  amnesty ;  a  solemn 
mass  celebrated  the  festivity,  and  the  soldiers  having 
richly  rewarded  the  churches  and  monasteries  with 
gifts,  marched  to  the  siege  of  Leyden  after  a  revolt  of 
forty-seven  days. 

When  two  years  later  the  mutinous  soldiers  had 
illustrated  in  their  doings  at  Mastricht  what  they  had 
in  mind  to  do  with  Antwerp,  the  terrified  citizens 
thought  that  nothing  better  could  be  done  than  to 
increase  their  German  garrison  by  about  forty  com- 
panies of  Walloonian  troops.  On  the  esplanade, 
opposite  the  citadel,  they  built  fortifications  of  sacks  of 
wool  and  corn,  on  which  men  and  women  were  at 
work.  When  the  report  had  spread  abroad  that  the 
rebels  of  Alost  had  entered  the  citadel,  the  city  opened 
up  fire  against  the  same. 

Here  Sancho  d'Avila  was  in  command,  and  under 
him  five  thousand  Spaniards  were  gradually  assembled. 
The  desire  to  have  a  part  in  the  rich  booty  of  Antwerp 
had  brought  them  together  from  all  quarters.  Such 
was  their  eagerness  that,  despite  the  long  inarch, 
no  one  was  willing  to  enjoy  anything  until  the  city, 
was  taken.  And  the  same  afternoon  the  furious  troop 
rushed  from  the  citadel  to  the  fortifications.  The 
Walloonians  and  Germans  hardly  waited  to  shoot 
off  their  rifles,  took  to  flight,  and  left  the  new 
walls  to  the  enemy.  But  the  inhabitants  of  the  city 
which  even  then  had  one  hundred  thousand  residents, 
and  which  was  so  dear  to  them  all,  fought  and  offered 
a  desperate,  though  vain  opposition.  Half  of  the  city, 
went  up  in  flames,  and  all  cruelties  and  excesses  which 


Holland  and  Belgium.  19 

in  that  age  were  wont  to  attend  the  storming  of  a  city 
were  enacted  here  in  their  worst  form. 

The  booty  was  immeasurable.  The  exchange  was 
converted  into  a  gambling-house,  and  in  one  evening 
common  soldiers  gambled  away  ten  thousand  florins 
in  Landshnecht,  even  then  a  favourite  game.  Yet  in 
order  to  keep  a  part  of  it,  others  had  their  cuirasses  and 
stirrups  made  of  gold.  But  this  robbery  was  a  death 
blow  to  the  business  of  Antwerp.  It  was  a  national 
loss,  and  the  effects  were  felt  throughout  Europe.  A 
large  number  of  prominent  families,  with  the  ruins  01 
their  property,  emigrated  and  fled  to  Holland,  where 
they  did  not  have  to  fear  such  an  encounter  with  the 
troops  of  their  king. 

When  Don  John  of  Austria  removed  the  Spanish 
army  from  the  Netherlands,  Alva  had  to  surrender  the 
citadel  of  Antwerp  to  the  Duke  of  Arschot.  Too 
haughty  to  do  this  himself,  he  delivered  the  key  by  his 
lieutenant,  and  the  duke  swore  by  the  hand  of  Don 
Escuvedo  never  to  deliver  the  citadel  to  anyone 
except  King  Philip  and  his  heirs,  whereupon  Escu- 
vedo  replied :  "  God  help  you  so  to  do ;  if  not,  may  the 
devil  take  you,  body  and  soul !  "  All  present  said 
"Amen"  to  this.  From  bitter  experience  the  in- 
habitants of  Antwerp  had  learned  what  an  ill  turn 
Alva  had  done  them,  when  he  ordered  this  citadel  to 
be  built  on  the  south  side  of  the  city,  from  which 
source  devastation  had  already  twice  broken  in  upon 
them.  Therefore  they  petitioned,  and  were  allowed  by 
the  city  council  to  raze  this  hateful  scourge  to  its  very 
foundation,  a  work  which  all  classes,  and  even  frail 
young  girls,  took  a  part  in,  the  completion  of  which  the 
citizens  celebrated  with  grand  banquets.  But  they  were 
hardly  through  with  this  when  the  Duke  of  Parma, 
who  thought  that  a  citadel  was  very  necessary  for  the 
city,  caused  the  same  one  to  be  re-erected  for  them. 

The  experiment  which  the  Spanish  had  twice  so 
successfully   tried  against  Antwerp,  the  French  like- 

c  2 


20  Holland  and  Belgium. 

wise  (1583)  desired  to  accomplish  for  their  own  advan- 
tage. The  Duke  of  Anjou,  whom  the  Netherlander* 
had  selected  as  a  new  sovereign  for  themselves,  and 
from  whom  they  hoped  better  treatment  than  from 
their  Spanish  masters,  this  duke  found  himself  em- 
barrassed by  the  conditions  to  which  he  had  taken  oath 
at  the  beginning.  Therefore,  under  plausible  pretexts, 
he  assembled  a  few  thousand  Frenchmen  at  Burger- 
hout,  not  far  from  the  city,  and  under  the  pretence  of 
a  review,  marched  with  a  numerous  retinue  to  the 
Kipdorf  gate.  One  of  the  attendants  of  the  duke 
halted  on  the  bridge,  as  if  he  had  injured  his  leg. 
"  Jambe  rompue"  was  repeated  by  many  voices.  Im- 
mediately the  French  charged,  killed  the  guard,  took 
possession  of  the  gate  and  the  walls,  and  penetrated 
into  the  city. 

Several  days  before  this  a  slight  rumour  of  the  duke's 
intention  had  been  circulated  in  the  city.     "  A  gate  l 
may  be  easily  conquered  this  way  !  "  cried  out  a  voice 
from  the  crowd,  when  the  duke  rode  out  of  the  city, 
and  it  was   noticed  that   the  courtiers   wore   armour 
under  their  jackets.     Now  the  citizens  rushed  by  one 
by  one.     The  streets  were  closed  with  chains,  stones 
were  hurled  down  from  the  houses  upon  the  heads  of 
those  who   had  entered.     The   number  of  the  armed 
Antwerpers  grew  greater  and  greater,  for  they,  schooled 
by   terrible    experiences,    prefer    to   die   rather   than 
Avillingly  to   suffer   pillage   again,  or  in   truth   a   St. 
Bartholomew's   eve.     Soon   the   French   were   in   the 
most   frightful   distress.     The    cannon  from   the   wall 
thundered    down    upon   them,    terror   and    confusion 
seized    them,     and     even     their    own    troops    which 
continued   to   inarch   in   through   the    gate   they  had 
taken  hindered  them  from  retreating. 

1  The  German  reads:  "So  liesse  sich  wohl  ein  Thor  erobern." 
Thor  means  both  gate  and  fool,  hence  the  play  upon  the  expression 
cannot  be  Englished. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  21 

After  losing  two  thousand  men,  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  attempt  to  extend  his 
own  power,  and  the  residents  of  Antwerp  celebrated 
their  rescue  by  their  own  valour. 

Alexander  of  Parma  gave  the  city  the  last  blow 
during  the  siege,  or  rather  during  the  blockade  in  the 
year  of  1584-85. 

The  attempt  of  the  duke  to  besiege  a  place  of  eighty 
thousand  inhabitants  with  ten  thousand  men,  separated 
as  they  necessarily  were  by  a  stream  twelve  hundred 
feet  wide  and  without  bridges,  men  moreover  dissatis- 
fied and  no  longer  to  be  depended  upon,  and  this  too 
at  a  time  when  Ghent,  Bruges,  Dendermond,  Mecheln 
and  Brussels  were  not  yet  subdued,  and  the  fleet  of 
Zealand  was  cruising  in  the  Schelde  without  its  being- 
possible  to  produce  one  ship  in  opposition  to  it, — such 
an  attempt,  even  in  combination  with  the  enormous 
activity  and  endurance  of  the  Spaniards  and  their 
general,  could  succeed  only  because  of  the  weakness  of 
the  defence. 

The  circumstances,  however,  of  this  remarkable  siege 
are  too  well  known  to  receive  here  more  than  passing 
notice. 

After  Antwerp  again  passed  under  Spanish  rule, 
the  rest  of  the  trade  of  the  Netherlands  fled  over  to 
Holland,  and  Amsterdam  became  the  centre  of  the 
commerce  of  the  world. 

In  addition  to  the  increase  in  wealth  which  the 
Hollanders  received  from  the  southern  provinces,  the 
commerce  of  Holland  increased  at  an  unparalleled  rate 
in  consequence  of  a  decree  of  the  cabinet  of  Madrid, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  annihilate  the  very  exist- 
ence of  this  commerce.  Philip  II.  had  long  ago  for- 
bidden his  subjects  to  have  intercourse  with  the 
rebellious  Netherlands,  but  this  trade  continued,  under 
the  observance  of  certain  forms  and  feigned  names,  to 
be  of  immeasurable  advantage  to  both  parties.  Finally, 
Philip  III.  put  those  prohibitive  laws  into  execution  and 


22  Holland  and  Belgium. 

thereby  forced  the  enterprising  commercial  spirit  of  the 
Hollanders  to  seek  at  the  very  fountain-head  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  East  Indies,  which  Holland  had  previously 
gone  to  the  Spanish  markets  to  procure.  Therefore 
the  Hollanders  were  able  to  deliver  these  to  northern 
Europe  at  a  vastly  greater  profit. 

In  the  year  1497,  the  Portuguese  Vasco  de  Gama 
had  discovered  the  way  to  the  East  Indies  around  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  this  way  caused  the  ruin 
of  Genoa  and  Venice.  Twenty  years  later  another 
Portuguese,  Magalhaens,  discovered  the  south-western 
passage  about  the  south  point  of  America.  The 
Hollanders  now  wished  to  discover  the  supposed  north- 
eastern way  for  themselves  and  to  use  it,  thus  shorten- 
ing the  whole  journey  by  a  half.  An  unsuccessful 
attempt  of  the  English  did  not  scare  them  away  ;  three 
small  expeditions  were  equipped  for  this  purpose,  and 
the  undaunted  Heemskerk  penetrated  as  far  as  eighty 
degrees  of  north  latitude.  When  these  new  Argonauts, 
who  had  passed  a  frightful  winter  in  that  sea,  hitherto 
unseen  by  the  eye  of  man,  had  indeed  proved  the  pro- 
bability of  a  passage  around  the  north  of  Asia,  they 
at  the  same  time  were  thoroughly  convinced  that  this 
passage  was  impracticable  for  commercial  purposes. 

The  Hollanders  now  determined  in  spite  of  all 
enemies  to  trade  by  the  same  course  as  the  Portuguese, 
who  were  then  a  part  of  Spain. 

Nine  merchants  of  Amsterdam  fitted  out  four  ships 
for  this  purpose.  This  was  the  beginning  of  that 
famous  East  India  Company,  which,  a  few  years  after 
its  formation,  held  command  over  fleets  and  armies, 
subjugated  kingdoms  and  held  sway  over  boundless 
territory. 

Certainly  such  successes  were  only  possible  because 
of  the  decided  pre-eminence  of  the  Hollanders  on  the 
sea  ;  but  even  this  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  events 
of  that  era,  so  rich  in  extraordinary  things. 

Need  and  despair  had   transformed   fishermen   and 


Holland  and  Belgium.  23 

seamen  into  pirates,  their  boats  in  privateers,  and  these 
privateers  a  few  years  later  were  metamorphosed  in 
turn  into  a  navy  which  attacked  the  Spanish  flag  on 
the  high  seas,  destroyed  their  proud  galleons  and  even 
burned  them  in  the  Spanish  ports,  in  which  they  were 
seeking  safety  in  vain.  The  name  of  the  beggars'  league 
was  uttered  with  terror,  and  the  conqueror  of  the 
Ottoman  fleet  in  the  harbour  of  Lepanto,  from  the  banks 
of  the  Schelde,  witnessed  the  destruction  of  his  ships  by 
the  squadrons  of  Zealand.  The  Armada,  an  undertaking 
the  like  of  which  had  never  been  seen  until  Napoleon's 
equipment  in  the  harbour  of  Boulogne,  perished  by 
no  means  merely  by  the  fury  of  the  elements,  but 
chiefly  through  the  opposition  of  the  Batavian-English 
fleet.  And  even  in  the  waters  of  the  other  hemisphere 
the  ancient  celebrated  flag  of  Spain  had  to  yield  to  the 
youthful  mercantile  sea-power. 

If  justice  requires  it  to  be  said  that  an  unprecedented 
obstinate  fatality  pursued  the  undertakings  of  Spain 
upon  the  sea,  on  the  other  hand  one  must  grant  that 
no  other  navy,  not  excepting  the  English,  has  ever 
been  able  to  exhibit  such  a  rapid  and  brilliant  develop- 
ment and  such  a  multitude  of  great  military  achieve- 
ments with  so  few  resources  as  did  Holland  at  that 
period. 

Holland,  a  daughter  of  the  sea,  was  invincible  so 
long  as  that  element  could  not  be  wrested  from  her. 
It  was  her  origin,  the  condition  of  her  continuance,  her 
protection,  her  plague  and  her  supporter. 

Among  other  circumstances,  the  siege  of  Ostend 
proves  how  truly  this  was  the  case.  It  held  at  bay  the 
weapons  of  the  whole  Spanish  army,  even  under  the 
command  of  a  Spinola  beneath  its  walls,  for  three  years 
and  three  months.  What  an  inestimable  advantage  for 
the  young  and  feeble  state  ! 

Though  the  results  of  the  siege  of  Ostend  are  less 
important  than  those  of  Antwerp,  yet  the  operation  of 
the  siege  on  both  sides  offers  a  far  grander  and  more 


24  Holland  and  Belgium. 

interesting  theme,  and  when  one  considers  the  progress 
in  methods  of  attack  and  destruction,  its  fame  justly 
joins  that  of  Troy  and  Tyre.  One  important  fact  was 
that  the  Spaniards,  in  spite  of  their  gigantic  efforts  to 
cut  off  communication  by  sea,  did  not  succeed,  so  that 
there  reigned  not  only  an  abundance  of  provisions  in 
the  stronghold,  but  also  the  entire  garrison  of  the  same 
was  able  gradually  to  be  discharged.    - 

Even  for  the  first  twenty  months  this  siege  cost  the 
Spaniards  several  millions  of  money  and  eighteen 
thousand  men.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  shots 
were  fired  from  twenty  and  fifty-pound  cannon  against 
the  city,  which,  in  turn,  lost  eight  thousand  men  and 
replied  with  one  hundred  thousand  shots.  Finally, 
Spinola,  with  the  sacrifices  which  cost  another  nine- 
teen months,  secured  the  possession  of  aN  stone  heap, 
whose  defenders  and  occupants  had  saved  themselves 
in  a  new  home  across  the  sea,  and  he  at  the  same 
time  lost  Sluys,  a  place  of  at  least  just  as  much  im- 
portance as  the  one  that  had  been  obtained  with  such 
painful  offerings. 

With  the  loss  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea  the 
united  provinces  of  the  Netherlands  were  also  lost 
to  Spain,  and  after  a  war  of  more  than  forty  years, 
it  now  required  the  labour  of  three  years  in  order 
to  procure,  not  peace,  but  only  a  truce  of  twelve  years, 
which,  in  the  meantime,  was  interrupted  to  continue 
the  struggle  for  life  or  death  despite  the  complete 
prostration  and  impotency  of  Spain. 

But  now  how  different  was  the  civil  state  of  the 
Spanish  and  the  united  Netherlands.  The  provinces 
that  had  voluntarily  or  by  force  returned  under  the 
Spanish  rule  presented  a  horrible  picture  of  such  misery 
as  arbitrary  and  bad  laws,  revolution  and  war  can 
spread  over  a  country.  Agriculture  was  completely 
abandoned,  there  being  lack  of  workmen  on  account  of 
the  emigration,  and  no  one  was  certain  whether  he 
should  reap  that  which  he  had  sown.     This  resulted  in 


Holland  and  Belgium.  25 

a  terrible  scarcity  of  grain,  and  this  caused  new  emigra- 
tions. Business  was  depressed  after  so  many  heavy 
blows.  On  the  fall  of  Antwerp  it  veered  almost 
wholly  toward  the  north,  where  it  dared  hope  to  find 
protection,  and  the  privateers  of  Holland  which 
swarmed  about  all  the  estuaries  of  the  Netherlands 
completely  destroyed  the  little  that  was  left.  Of 
course  all  factories  and  manufactures  stopped,  since 
the  demand  for  their  products  had  wholly  ceased, 
unless,  perhaps,  one  might  reckon  the  Spanish  soldiers 
as  customers. 

Thus  the  boroughs  and  villages  were  empty,  the 
cities,  ravaged  with  pestilences  and  deserted  by  the 
Protestant  inhabitants  whom  Spanish  intolerance  had 
expelled,  were  like  open  graves,  and  packs  of  wolves 
roved  over  the  waste  fields  once  so  blooming. 

A  glance  at  the  neAvly-established  state  of  the  united 
provinces  reveals  a  very  different  sight,  indeed  the  very 
opposite  of  this  sad  picture.  Its  population  increased 
for  the  same  reason  and  in  the  same  proportion  as 
that  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands  melted  away.  The 
emigrations  which  impoverished  the  latter  enriched  the 
former,  and  the  business  which  perished  in  Antwerp 
flourished  in  Amsterdam  under  the  protection  of  the 
victorious  fleet.  Credit  was  strengthened  by  sensible 
laws,  and  still  more  so  because  these  were  enacted. 
In  a  word,  the  united  provinces,  in  the  midst  of  a 
war  in  which  it  was  a  question  of  their  existence, 
enjoyed  all  the  blessings  of  peace,  all  the  prosperity 
of  commerce,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  storms  which 
were  raging  about  them  they  established  their 
sovereignty  over  another  part  of  the  world. 

In  this  way  the  political,  religious,  and  mercantile 
interests  of  one  part  of  the  Netherlands  were  separated 
from  the  other  and  became  decidedly  opposed  to  them. 
The  lamentable  contrast  of  the  civil  condition  in  the 
Spanish  provinces  with  that  of  the  favoured  people 
in  the    north   must  have  aroused  the  jealousy  of  the 


26  Holland  and  Belgium. 

former,  and  this  jealousy  passed  only  too  soon  into 
hate  which  two  centuries  have  not  been  able  to  wipe 
out. 

From  this  period  the  destinies  of  both  parts  really 
travel  two  distinct  paths.  The  history  of  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  is  miserable,  their  political  life  almost 
extinguished,  and  they  themselves  are  only  a  battle- 
field in  which  other  powers  fight  out  their  deadly 
feuds. 

The  reason  for  this  was  both  the  political  position 
of  the  provinces  and  the  great  number  of  fortresses 
which  they  had,  to  their  own  destruction,  planted, 
and  which  did  not  aid  them,  but  Holland  only. 
These  were  the  bulwarks  on  which  the  great  and 
numerous  armies  must  first  break  their  force  before 
they  could  reach  Holland,  which,  itself  without  forts 
since  the  siege  of  Leyden,  Alkmaar,  and  Haarlem, 
has  not  been  trodden  by  the  enemy's  foot  for  centuries. 
By  the  Barrier  Treaty  the  right  to  garrison  the  most 
of  the  forts  in  the  provinces  of  the  Netherlands  was 
formally  decreed  to  the  united  states,  and  these  were 
very  truly  destined  to  become  the  arena  of  their 
wars.  Therefore,  indeed,  there  is  scarcely  a  spot  on 
the  whole  earth  on  which  so  much  blood  has  been 
shed  for  two  consecutive  centuries,  and  which  has 
been  so  devastated  by  Avar,  pillage,  fire  and  pestilence, 
by  physical  and  moral  oppression,  as  this  unhappy 
country. 

Too  weak  to  defend  itself  against  its  powerful  neigh- 
bours, its  foreign  rulers  have  lacked  power  to  protect 
it.  Futile  therefore  were  also  all  attempts  to  renew  its 
trade,  that  chief  source  of  its  prosperity.  With  extra- 
ordinary rapidity  an  East  India  Company  flourished 
immediately  after  its  establishment  at  Ostend,  but  the 
rivalry  of  England  and  of  the  states  forced  it  to  dissolve 
again.  And  thus  all  other  attempts  have  been  of  no 
avail. 

At  that  time  statesmen  considered  these  provinces, 


Holland  and  Belgium.  27 

formerly  so  rich  and  prosperous,  with  a  population 
equal  to  that  of  kingdoms  such  as  Denmark,  Sweden 
and  Portugal,  only  as  a  make-weight  which,  if  laid 
upon  this  or  that  scale,  would  be  inclined  to  preserve 
the  equilibrium  of  the  states. 

It  is  true  that  the  Flemish  had  the  intention  of 
shaking  off  the  Spanish  rule,  which  was  now  so  power- 
less, and  of  constituting  themselves  a  free  state,  under 
the  protection  of  France  and  the  states. 

Negotiations  were  also  begun  between  Louis  XIV. 
and  the  state-pensioner  de  Witt,  who  proposed  to  take 
this  opportunity  to  divide  the  rest  of  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  between  themselves.  But  they  were 
broken  off  and  the  project  was  discontinued  principally 
because  each  wished  to  have  much  and  all  proposed  to 
give  little. 

In  the  year  1891  the  Spanish  crown  offered  the 
Netherland  ]:>rovinces  to  the  states,  as  theirs  by  right 
and  inheritance,  because  the  Spanish  did  not  think 
that  they  could  defend  them  against  Louis  XIV. 
But  William  III.,  then  Stadtholder,  declined  the 
possession  of  these  countries,  chiefly  because  he  fore- 
saw in  the  religious  differences  an  unconquerable 
hindrance  to  assimilation. 

So  the  Netherland  provinces  passed  from  the  Spanish 
government  into  that  of  Austria,  without  having  even 
bettered  their  destiny  by  that  move.  And  thus  we 
behold  Belgium  in  its  depths  of  impotency,  while  we 
shall  see  Holland  mount  the  very  summit  of  its  power. 

The  influence  exerted  by  the  united  Netherlands 
upon  the  affairs  of  Europe  since  the  twelve  years'  truce 
is  very  pronounced. 

After  the  expiration  of  this  armistice  during  which, 
however,  the  Avar  in  India  was  waging,  war  was  again 
kindled  between  Spain  and  the  states.  But  at  that 
time  the  weakness  of  Spain  was  such  that  even  a 
Spinola  was  no  longer  able  to  arouse  energy  in  the 
course  of  proceedings  against  the  revolted  countries. 


28  Holland  and  Belgium. 

The  military  equipments  of  the  states  were  also 
very  slight,  and  in  the  year  1628  moreover  the  Prince 
of  Orange  did  not  once  enter  the  field. 

However,  it  was  in  the  year  1648  that  Spain  hrst 
consented  to  acknowledge  the  states  as  sovereign 
countries,  in  the  peace  of  Minister  (Westphalia)  which 
was  a  document  written  on  mere  paper,  despite  the 
value  which  the  states  placed  upon  the  event,  not  on 
pergament,  and  only  signed  with  Yo  el  rey  (I  the  king). 

This  struggle  had  lasted  altogether  now  eighty  years. 
Whole  generations  had  been  born  and  had  died  without 
having  any  knowledge  of  peace  (in  their  own  country  at 
least),  except  by  hearsay.  And  yet  the  desire  for  this 
peace  was  so  feeble,  that  the  conclusion  of  the  same  on 
Holland's  part  met  with  great  opposition. 

We  have  shown  how  during  the  war  trade  and 
industry  had  been  elevated  to  the  highest  pinnacle. 

Moreover  art  and  science  also  were  flourishing.  The 
universities  of  Leyden,  Franeker,  Utrecht  and  Harder- 
wyck  were  founded,  and  the  masterpieces  of  the 
Netherland  School,  Avhich  still  form  so  essential  a  part 
of  the  wealth  of  the  picture  galleries  of  Europe,  are  off- 
springs of  that  stormy  period  and  the  one  succeeding. 

To  be  sure,  the  state  was  in  debt,  but  individuals 
enjoyed  immeasurable  prosperity  and  luxury.  For 
example,  in  the  case  of  the  flower  trade,  a  most 
decided  contrast  to  the  mercantile  solidity  of  the 
Hollanders,  they  sold  and  bought  such  perishable 
wares  as  the  bulbs  of  tulips  and  hyacinths  at  five 
and  six  thousand  florins  a  pound. 

If  war  had  not  become  a  necessity  to  the  Hollanders, 
it  was  however  a  custom  ;  they  waged  it,  of  course, 
Avith  their  own  money,  but  with  foreign  blood,  on 
foreign  seas  and  in  foreign  lands. 

But  peace  lasted  only  four  years,  when  the  Nether- 
land  navy  set  sail  against  England,  Portugal  and 
Sweden. 

England,  at  that  very  moment  preparing  itself  for 


Holland  and  Belgium.  29 

the  part  which  it  intended  to  play  in  the  monarchy  of 
the  seas,  did  not  mistake  the  dangerous  rival  which  it 
had  in  the  young  state  across  the  channel.  England 
was  already  a  formidable  maritime  power,  the  united 
provinces  would  become  such  in  the  contest  which 
was  destined  to  preclude  them  from  it.  But  in  spite 
of  the  superiority  which  the  number  and  greater 
size  of  their  ships  secured  to  the  English,  they  were 
unable  by  two  military  invasions  to  vanquish  the 
power  of  the  provinces  on  the  sea.  Under  com- 
manders like  Wassenaer,  Ruyter  and  Tromp,  this 
power  kept  its  place  everywhere,  Avas  just  as  oft  con- 
queror as  conquered,  and  it  even  dared  at  the  close  of 
this  war  to  pass  up  the  Thames  as  far  as  Chatham, 
where  it  partly  captured  and  partly  burned  the  royal 
ships  lying  there.  At  this  crisis  in  London  they  did 
not  know  how  to  protect  themselves  from  the  visit  of 
the  Netherlander  unless  by  sinking  their  ships  in  the 
Thames. 

But  while  the  navy  of  the  states  was  playing  such  a 
glorious  part,  their  land  force  had  fallen  into  such  a 
decline  that  the  Bishop  of  Munster  was  emboldened  to 
invade  them  with  an  army,  and  while  they  were  threaten- 
ing the  queen  of  the  sea  in  her  capital,  they  were  forced 
to  call  upon  France  for  aid  against  the  ecclesiastical  lord. 
This  total  ruin  of  the  land  force  was  partly  wrought 
on  purpose,  and  the  reason  for  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
jealousy  which  the  magistrates  had  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange. 

That  is  to  say,  this  family  had  scarcely  won  for  the 
country  its  independence,  before  the  country  began  to 
fear  lest  it  should  lose  this  through  the  family.  With 
a  kind  of  distrust  which  evinced  little  of  the  gratitude 
owed  by  the  states  to  William  the  Silent  and  his  family, 
the  most  of  its  members  having  sacrificed  their 
own  lives  in  battle  for  the  sake  of  these  very  states, 
they  carefully  excluded  the  descendants  of  the  family 
from  all  posts  and  influence. 


30  Holland  and  Belgium. 

The  opposition  to  the  house  of  Orange  was  repre- 
sented by  two  distinguished  men,  namely,  Oldenbarne- 
veldt,  the  pensioner  of  the  Council  of  Holland,  and  his 
successor,  de  Witt.  Both  regarded  it  as  very  hazardous 
to  give  the  warlike  descendant  of  William  I.  any  power 
in  governmental  affairs  ;  they  found  it  advisable  to  keep 
the  supreme  power  in  various  degrees  of  modification 
for  the  states-general  (that  is,  the  deputies)  of  the  pro- 
vinces, but  chiefly  for  themselves  as  representatives  of 
the  province  which  was  by  far  the  most  powerful.  The 
influential  body  of  merchants  especially  agreed  with 
them  as  regards  this,  for  they,  mindful  of  instances 
like  those  of  all  the  reigns  from  the  time  of  Charles  of 
Burgundy  to  that  of  Anjou  and  Leicester,  certainly  had 
no  cause  to  wish  again  for  the  government  of  a  single 
man.  A  few  violent  measures  of  Prince  Morice  and 
William  II.  had  still  further  injured  the  cause,  a  pro- 
ject of  the  latter  respecting  Amsterdam  had  miscarried, 
and  William  III.  during  his  minority  lost  all  that  dis- 
tinguished him  from  a  private  citizen. 

The  attitude  of  opposition  of  the  Orange  house  to 
the  people  of  the  Netherlands  was  an  extraordinary 
one,  and  in  order  not  to  spoil  everything  there  was 
need  of  great  moderation  and  circumspection,  which 
signally  distinguished  the  acts  of  the  princes  of  this 
house.  Their  claims  for  a  higher  position  were  never 
established  by  a  convention  or  a  resolution.  They 
rested  merely  on  the  great  services  rendered  the  state, 
and  were  therefore  only  the  more  honoured. 

Since  the  Union  of  Utrecht  each  of  the  united 
provinces  formed  a  perfectly  independent  sovereign 
state  in  itself,  whose  regents  were  the  deputies  chosen 
from  the  whole  body  of  the  nobility  and  the  cities  and 
appointed  states-general.  For  general  affairs  of  all  the 
provinces,  such  as  war  and  peace,  taxation,  treaties, 
etc.,  there  was  a  committee  of  the  states,  the  members 
of  which  were  called  the  states-general,  and  these  were 
very  much  inclined,  although  unjustly,  to  regard  them- 


Holland  and  Belgium.  31 

selves  as  the  supreme  power.  Besides  this  actually 
highest  power,  there  was  wont  to  be  moreover  a  seem- 
ing one,  that  is,  the  office  of  the  stadtholder  although 
there  was  no  longer  a  foreign  regent  that  he  had  to 
represent.  But  the  stadtholder  outwardly  represented 
the  state,  and  through  the  lustre  of  his  ancestry  and  his 
own  person  it  was  intended  that  he  should  inspire 
esteem  in  foreign  powers.  Generally,  beside  the 
regency  over  several  provinces  he  united  also  in  time  of 
war  the  offices  of  general  and  admiral,  because  it  was 
found  that  by  the  centralization  of  the  powers  it  was 
possible  to  act  with  more  strength,  and  at  that  time  his 
influence  indeed  was  very  considerable. 

Now,  at  the  verv  moment  the  high  magistrates 
excluded  the  Orange  family  from  these  offices  and  to 
a  certain  extent  had  even  abolished  these  offices,  there 
existed  a  strong  and  wide-spread  feeling  in  their  favour. 
For  them  were  the  remembrance  of  distinguished 
services  and  a  vast  following  among  the  people. 

Certainly,  a  prince  fond  of  war  must  have  been  more 
congenial  to  the  nobility,  although  they  felt  that  they 
were  very  much  in  the  background,  than  the  corps  of 
high-mightinesses,  and  furthermore  the  common  man, 
accustomed  to  his  earls  and  custodians  from  by-gone 
and  happier  days,  loved  the  brilliancy  and  pomp  of  a 
liberal,  princely  lord,  who  distributed  honours  and 
favours,  while  the  states  issued  the  writs  only  for  taxes 
and  duties.  The  Orange  party,  for  reasons  conceivable, 
had  a  following  also  in  the  army,  so  far  as  there  was 
such  a  thing. 

Since  ties  of  relationship  bound  the  interests  of  the 
house  of  Orange  to  the  royal  family  of  England,  de 
Witt  threw  his  whole  influence  upon  the  interests  ol* 
France.  For  this  reason  the  naval  force  had  to  be 
elevated  to  an  imposing  position,  but  the  land  force  to 
be  diminished  as  much  as  possible.  In  this  policy 
the  mercantile  frugality  of  the  states  seconded  him. 
The  appointments  of  officers  in  the  troops  still  remain- 


32  Holland  and  Belgium. 

ing  after  a  series  of  reductions,  were  possessed  by  the 
cousins  of  the  burgomaster,  and  their  whole  duty  was 
to  spend  their  incomes  and  be  anti-Orange. 

But  the  allied  states  were  of  themselves  about  to 
undergo  an  experience,  with  less  pain  to  themselves, 
which  they  could  have  acquired  from  the  example  of 
others  in  history,  namely,  how  dangerous  is  a  division 
of  the  controlling  power  in  the  state,  especially  at  a 
time  when  powerful  neighbours  are  ready  to  enrich 
themselves  through  the  weakness  of  others. 

Such  a  restless  neighbour  had  the  states  par 
excellence  in  Louis  XIV. 

This  monarch  believed  that  he  had  certain  claims  on 
the  Spanish  Netherlands.  To  ease  his  conscience  he 
ordered  his  council  and  some  of  the  clergy  to  investi- 
gate these  claims,  and  both  found  that  they  were  well 
established.  Moreover  Europe's  criticism  respecting 
these  was,  that  they  could  be  better  confirmed  by 
cannon  than  on  legal  grounds,  and  the  king  also  deter- 
mined to  lend  them  the  necessary  strength  by  the  help 
of  a  considerable  army. 

De  Witt  purposely  shut  his  eyes  to  that  which  cer- 
tainly was  easy  to  see,  but  which  was  destined  to  carry 
with  it  the  overthroAv  of  himself  and  his  regime.  He 
stoutly  opposed  every  advancement  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  he  reduced  the  army  still  further,  and  he 
regarded  himself  and  the  state,  moreover,  fully  assured 
of  the  friendship  of  France,  when  the  storm  did  burst 
forth  which  all  men,  conjectured  must  end  the  exist- 
ence of  the  united  Netherlands. 

France  and  England,  then  the  two  greatest  powers 
in  Europe,  declared  war  with  the  states  ;  Sweden  and 
the  Bishop  of  Munster,  and  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Cologne  joined  in  this  with  a  great  force,  and  the 
Netherlands,  hard  pressed,  abandoned  by  their  allies, 
and  overwhelmed  with  warfare,  had  no  other  hopes 
than  in  their  own  strength,  and  in  the  possible  aid 
of  remote  Spain  and  Brandenburgh. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  t>3 

The  states  made  the  most  humble  remonstrances,  but 
in  vain.  Their  humility  was  so  great  that  England 
was  almost  constrained  to  find  an  excuse  for  with- 
drawal. The  future  conquests  were  meanwhile  dis- 
tributed beforehand.  An  army  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men,  and  at  that  time  men  were  not 
accustomed  to  such  armies,  under  generals  like 
Turenne  and  Conde,  with  the  King  of  France  at  its 
head,  advanced  along  the  sea  (1672).  Gelderland, 
Utrecht  and  Overyssel  were  immediately  lost,  Fries- 
land  and  Groningen  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  floods  alone  hindered  the  French  from 
advancing  into  Holland.  The  fortresses  fell  one  after 
another,  even  the  strongest,  almost  without  resistance. 
Ostend,  for  example,  was  surrendered  to  the  king  in 
just  as  many  days  as  it  had  years  withstood  Spinola. 
Louis  XIV.  saw  himself  in  the  brilliant  light  of  a  great 
conqueror,  and  selected  the  right  moment  to  return  to 
Madame  de  Montespan. 

During  the  time  of  this  unparalleled  success  a  formid- 
able English  fleet  sailed  up  on  the  opposite  side  intend- 
ing to  land  and  conquer  the  last  spot  in  Holland  where 
the  independence  of  the  states  had  fled  for  refuge.  And 
the  states  had  nothing  to  oppose  to  all  these  threaten- 
ing storms  but  twenty  thousand  bad,  undisciplined 
men,  under  commanders  who  had  neither  courage  nor 
knowledge  of  war.  And  besides  there  were  quarrels, 
as  usual,  in  the  interior,  and  divided  opinions  with 
regard  to  the  measures  to  be  adopted.  It  actually 
required  all  the  power  of  Louis  XIV.  and  a  miracle  to 
prevent  the  annihilation  of  the  state.  A  double  ebb, 
which  lasted  twelve  hours,  and  a  hurricane  immedi- 
ately following  it,  prevented  the  landing.  This 
incident  was  very  rare  in  spring  and  autumn,  but  had 
never  happened,  as  on  this  occasion,  in  summer. 
Finally  those  on  land  had  to  thank  the  presumption  of 
Louis  XIV.  for  what  otherwise  they  had  expected  to 
thank    his    generosity.     The   excess   of    his   demands 

VOL.    I.  D 


34  Holland  and  Belgium. 

drove  the  despairing  people  back  to  their  own  strength, 
and  from  this  they  Avere  obliged  now  to  expect  their 
own  rescue. 

De  Witt  and  his  party  perished  in  the  press  of 
these  circumstances.  This  distinguished  man,  who,  in 
addition  to  a  decided  passion  for  power,  possessed  all 
the  qualities  of  a  great  statesman,  together  with  his 
brother,  the  meritorious  Admiral  de  Witt,  was 
murdered  by  the  mob  in  a  shocking  manner. 

Previous  to  this  the  Prince  of  Orange  had  been 
appointed  by  general  acclamation  as  Stadtholder  and 
Captain-General,  and  these  offices  were  to  be  hence- 
forth hereditary.  Although  many  conditions  had  been 
stipulated  on  the  part  of  France  favourable  to  the 
Prince  in  the  proposals  for  peace,  yet  he  declared,  when 
interrogated,  that  the  proposals  were  in  every  respect 
unacceptable,  and  that  one  would  rather  perish  than 
agree  to  them. 

The  army  was  made  up  anew,  and  organized,  and  if 
William  III.  was  not  successful  in  his  undertakings 
with  this  new  army,  great  honour  is  due  to  him  for 
having  warded  off  a  disgraceful  peace  by  his  firmness, 
just  as  he  it  was  also  who  later,  as  King  of  England, 
again  destroyed,  at  least  partially,  the  threatening 
increase  of  France's  supremacy. 

The  relations  continued  to  shape  themselves,  without 
much  action  on  the  part  of  the  states,  more  and  more 
favourably,  especially  because  of  the  presence  of  the 
imperial  troops  ;  and  thus  the  Netherlands  emerged 
from  a  conflict  in  which  the  greatest  victory  was  the 
preservation  of  their  existence. 

The  Peace  of  Nimeguen  (1679)  restored  the  state  of 
the  United  Netherlands. 

From  this  time  on  this  state  waged  no  more  wars 
with  England.  Both  countries  naturally  united 
against  the  threatening  supremacy  of  France,  and  just 
as  William  III.'s  ancestor  a  hundred  years  before  had 
broken  the  ascendancy  of  Spain,  so  William  III.    of 


Holland  and  Belgium.  35 

Orange  seemed  now  destined  to  check  the  devastating 
torrent  of  French  tyranny. 

Therefore  the  Netherlands  soon  saw  themselves 
involved  in  new  Avars.  The  first  lasted  seven  years, 
and,  according  to  the  Peace  of  Ryswick,  the  states  con- 
tinued in  possession  of  all  that  they  had  before.  But 
the  war  cost  them  six  hundred  million  florins. 

The  second  lasted  eleven  years.  It  was  the  cele- 
brated AVar  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  William  III. 
died  without  seeing  the  favourable  issue  which  the 
united  armies  of  Marlborough  and  Eugene  Avon  by 
fighting.  This  Avar  achieved  its  purpose  on  the  Avhole, 
so  far  as  the  humiliation  of  Louis  XIV.  Avas  con- 
cerned, and  it  Avould  have  achieved  much  more  had 
not  a  quarrel  over  a  Avoman  at  the  English  Court 
overthroAvn  Marlborough  in  spite  of  his  battles,  and 
had  they  been  as  skilful  in  concluding  peace  as  in 
carrying  on  Avar. 

According  to  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  the  Spanish 
Netherlands  (1715)  passed  into  the  possession  of  Austria, 
and  the  United  Provinces  received,  by  the  so-called 
"  Barrier  Treaty,"  the  right  to  garrison  several  for- 
tresses in  the  noAv  Austrian  Netherlands.  But  this 
was  all  that  they  gained  from  their  almost  excessive 
struggles  for  the  common  cause. 

Since  the  time  of  the  origin  of  the  state  of  the  United 
Netherlands  by  the  Union  of  Utrecht  until  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  years 
had  expired,  and  of  these  thirty  were  years  of  peace, 
but  one  hundred  and  four  years  of  Avar.  These  years 
were,  moreover,  perturbed  by  continuous  internal 
quarrels,  by  Avars  in  East  India,  and  by  the  services 
given  to  other  states.  These  had  required  an  outlay 
of  forces  which  seemed  to  be  Avholly  out  of  proportion 
to  the  size  of  the  state. 

In  the  year  1672  the  united  Anglo-French  navy 
Avhich  set  out  against  the  states  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  one  large  warships  ;  these  were   armed 

d  2 


36  Holland  and  Belgium. 

with  more  than  six  thousand  guns,  and  manned  by 
thirty-five  thousand  men.  The  States  opposed  them 
with  ninety-one  warships,  together  with  sixty-five  fire- 
ships  and  pinnaces,  and  they  won  the  battle. 

These  were  the  greatest  navies  which  ever  before  or 
since  have  been  seen  on  the  sea.  Each  of  them  sur- 
passed in  size  the  celebrated  Armada  of  Philip  II. 

In  the  year  1673  the  Netherlands  equipped  seventy- 
five  warships,  forty-three  smaller  ships  with  forty-three 
hundred  cannon,  and  twenty  thousand  men  ;  and  when 
William  III.  reorganized  the  army,  they  put  sixty-six 
thousand  men  in  the  field. 

This  turbulent  and  active  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Netherlands  is  at  once  that  of  their  greatest  splendour 
and  their  florescence.  The  very  debts  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  these  were  the  only  vestiges  traceable  in  the 
country,  of  so  many  wars  were  profitable  for  individuals. 
The  abundance  of  currency  was  so  great  and  the  credit 
of  the  government  so  little  impaired  that  it  could 
,  obtain  at  any  moment  in  the  country  vast  sums  at  a 
small  interest.  Gold  was  so  abundant  that  they  did 
not  desire  to  pay  up  the  state  debts.  Such  wealth 
and  the  gigantic  achievements  and  vigorous  efforts 
of  the  states  had  procured  for  them  a  position  and  an 
influence  in  the  political  world  which  little  accorded 
with  the  marked  disregard  with  which  other  powers, 
and  especially  France,  took  care  to  treat  the  "  Merchant 
State."  And  if  they  charged  it  to  the  states  as  an 
insult  that  the  latter  claimed  on  one  of  their  medals 
"  to  have  aided  kings,  protected  and  reconciled  them, 
to  have  maintained  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  and 
to  have  restored  the  peace  of  Europe,"  then  the  only 
occasion  for  it  was,  very  truly,  that  so  small  a  power 
had  dared  to  tell  the  truth. 

But  the  political  greatness  of  Holland  was  an  exalted 
position,  one  which  could  not  last.  The  peace  which 
elevated  the  other  states  produced  the  overthrow  of  this 
one. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  37 

William  III.,  who  reigned  in  England  under  many 
limitations,  enjoyed  in  the  Netherlands  the  most  marked 
respect,  so  that  the  French  did  not  without  reason  call 
him  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  and  the  Stadtholder 
of  England  ;  but  with  him  ceased  the  male  issue  of  the 
Nassau-Orange  house,  and  the  parties  used  this  circum- 
stance to  remove  the  rest  of  the  members  of  the  Orange 
house  from  high  positions  and  to  re-establish  a  govern- 
ment without  a  Stadtholder.  The  result  of  this  was  the 
total  ruin  of  the  army.  It  is  true  that  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  that  most  successful  of  all  Nether- 
land  campaigns,  happened  after  the  death  of  the  Stadt- 
holder, but  it  was  conducted  with  the  army  and  all  the 
arrangements  which  he  had  called  into  being.  How  bad 
the  condition  of  the  military  of  the  Netherlands  became 
is  demonstrated  by  the  ease  with  which  the  French  in 
the  new  war  of  the  year  1747  took  possession  of  their 
barrier  towns.  In  this  year  thirty-live  thousand  men 
belonging  to  the  troops  of  the  state  were  French 
prisoners,  that  is,  nearly  their  whole  army. 

Business  also  declined,  and  the  principal  reason  for 
this  was  that  other  nations  were  now  carrying  on  a 
commerce  with  the  East  Indies,  their  shops  and  manu- 
factories stopped,  and  the  Hollanders  thus  had  to 
withstand  enormous  competition.  It  further  happened 
that  while  the  states,  in  order  to  render  France's 
dangerous  proximity  less  menacing,  had  bound  them- 
selves closely  to  England,  England  itself,  a  no  less 
dangerous  nation  on  the  sea,  had  increased  its  own 
maritime  power  by  the  ruin  of  that  of  France  to  such 
an  extent  that  soon  the  navy  of  the  Netherlands  was  no 
longer  a  match  for  it. 

Thus  after  a  long  period  of  peace  the  United  Pro- 
vinces had  considerably  fallen  from  their  ascendency, 
and  they  offer  little  that  interests  our  observation, 
excepting  the  internal  conflict  between  the  Orange  and 
anti-Orange  parties.  The  origin  of  this  opposition 
coincides  with  that  of  the  State,   and  its  continuance 


38  Holland  and  Belgium. 

during  the  whole  duration  of  the  same  manifests  itself 
at  times  in  open  combat,  at  times  in  secret  intrigue. 

At  the  death  of  William  III.,  who  died  without  issue, 
all  influence  of  the  house  of  Orange  was  again  lost,  but 
the  French  invasion  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  brought  William  IV.  again  to  the  helm  of 
state  by  the  vote  of  the  people.  The  great  likeness  of 
the  destiny  of  this  Stadtholder  with  that  of  his  royal 
predecessor,  William  III.,  has  been  generally  noted.  The 
one,  like  the  other,  was  born  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
and  with  an  unusually  tender  and  weakly  constitution. 
During  their  minority  they  lost  all  rights  which  their 
forefathers  had  possessed.  Both  married  daughters  of 
English  kings,  and  in  consequence  of  unsuccessful  wars 
threatening  the  state  with  destruction,  as  well  as  of 
popular  uprisings  which  broke  out  both  times  in  V  eere, 
both  were  elevated  to  the  same  dignity  in  the  United 
States,  which  position  was  henceforth  declared  to  be 
hereditary  in  the  male  and  female  line. 

Still  the  opposition  party  was  not  destroyed. 
Under  William  V.  it  lifted  its  head  with  new  power, 
especially  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  last  century,  and 
it  really  continued  to  be  in  possession  of  the  greatest 
part  of  the  actual  power  in  the  state.  Holland  and  its 
powerful,  wealthy,  and  arrogant  Amsterdam  were  the 
chief  supports  of  this  faction,  which  applied  to  itself 
the  name  of  the  Patriots,  so  as  to  show  by  this  that 
their  opponents,  the  Orange  party,  are  not  Patriots, 
but  the  opposite.  The  most  open  acts  of  injustice  and 
persecution  were  permitted  against  this  party  ;  the 
hereditary  Stadtholder  was  attacked  in  the  most  dis- 
honourable manner,  insulted,  and  overwhelmed  with 
calumnious  writings.  Indeed,  it  went  so  far  as  to  take 
from  him  the  command  over  the  troops  in  the  Hague, 
and  this  Prince  could  not  defend  himself  from  such 
unlawful  attacks  and  insults  without  arousing  a 
civil  war.  Incited  by  the  aid  of  foreign  powers,  and 
fearful  lest  the  party  favouring  the  Prince  in  the  states 


Holland  and  Belgium.  39 

assembly  could  yet  win  the  upper  hand,  the  Patriots 
of  Amsterdam  in  April  of  1787  determined  upon 
measures  of  violence,  they  changed  the  council  in  the 
said  city,  in  Rotterdam  and  Utrecht,  and  ordered 
their  troops  to  march  to  the  aid  of  their  supporters  in 
those  cities. 

At  this  moment  the  Prince  of  Orange  came  out  with 
a  final  declaration,  which  encouraged  his  supporters  to 
appear  publicly,  and  then  it  became  very  manifest 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  nation  was  for  the  Stadt- 
holder. 

The  Patriots,  although  whole  battalions  of  them 
went  over,  put  their  trust  meanwhile  in  their  armed 
civil  corps,  and  in  the  protection  of  France,  since  they 
supposed  that  France  would  not  have  expended  sixty 
million  pounds  in  vain,  which,  according  to  the  calcula- 
tion of  Calonne,  was  the  cost  of  the  Netherland  matter. 

But  a  speedy  end  was  brought  to  these  intrigues  by 
the  invasion  of  twenty-four  thousand  Prussians.  The 
Patriots  had  stopped  the  Consort  of  the  Stadtholder, 
the  Princess  Willielmina  of  Prussia,  sister  of  Frederick 
William  II.,  on  her  journey  to  the  Hague  near  Schoon- 
hofen,  and  after  delaying  her  thirty-six  hours  had  sent 
her  back  without  many  ceremonies.  The  king,  her 
brother,  who  had  previouly  abstained  from  all  inter- 
ference, demanded  satisfaction  for  this  conduct,  and 
when  it  did  not  follow  after  repeated  summons,  he 
granted  its  originators  a  limit  of  four  days  in  which 
to  explain  themselves.  When  this  set  time  had 
elapsed  without  conclusive  answer,  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  September,  1787,  advanced  with  three 
columns  to  Nymegen,  Amersfort,  and  Zutphen.  Not 
turning  aside  to  visit  a  French  camp  of  forty  thousand 
men,  which  was  said  to  have  been  located  near  Givet, 
the  army  was  before  the  walls  of  Amsterdam  in  a 
few  days,  which  for  three  centuries  past  had  not  seen 
an  enemy.  The  opposition  of  the  Patriots  was  just  as 
feeble  as  their  arrogance  had  previously  been   great. 


4<d  Holland  and  Belgium. 

Amstelveen,  which  showed  signs  of  resistance,  was 
stormed.  An  armed  frigate  anchored  in  the  Lek  was 
called  upon  to  surrender  by  a  single  bugler,  and  was 
handed  over  to  the  Prussian  Hussars,  who  in  the  whole 
of  their  glorious  career  in  war  had  never  yet  been  able 
to  boast  of  the  capture  of  warships. 

Rotterdam,  Dortrecht,  Leyden,  and  the  Hague  were 
occupied  by  Prussians,  but  the  magistracy  of  Amster- 
dam had  not  yet  thought  of  yielding.  After  the  Duke 
of  Brunswick  occupied  Oudekerk,  and  was  prepared  to 
bombard  the  city,  he  tried  to  gain  time  at  least  by 
means  of  deputation  and  negotiations. 

After  vain  resistance,  these  men  finally  yielded  to 
necessity,  and  by  agreement  the  Leyden  gate  was 
occupied  by  the  Prussians.  The  Amsterdamians 
enjoyed  the  strange  spectacle  of  seeing  foreign  troops 
within  their  wall,  for  heretofore  even  Stadtholders  on 
entering  the  city  had  been  obliged  to  leave  their  feeble 
body-guard  outside  the  gates. 

So  these  disputes  were  settled  with  great  moderation, 
and  the  power  of  the  hereditary  Stadtholder  established 
on  a  basis  so  broad  that  it  was  hoped  that  his  power  in 
the  future  would  anticipate  such  disastrous  agitations. 

But  at  the  very  time  when  the  flame  of  revolution 
was  kindled  in  Holland,  there  glowed  a  fire  under  the 
ashes  in  the  Austro-Belgium  Provinces.  The  rebellion 
which  broke  out  a  few  years  afterwards  in  this  country 
was  in  many  respects  so  analogous  to  that  which  to- 
day draws  the  attention  of  Europe,  that  a  short  descrip- 
tion of  the  same  from  a  practical  point  of  view  may 
well  find  place  here. 

Twice  in  the  interval  of  a  half  century  France  has 
presented  the  great  tragedy  of  a  revolution,  and  both 
times  Belgium  has  repeated  these  events  on  a  small 
scale. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  the  Belgium  copy  was  a 
negative,  a  revolution  which  was  conducted,  or  at  least 
designed,  in  a  directly  opposite  manner. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  41 

What  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  France 
fought  for,  what  it  would  destroy,  was  the  very  thing 
which  men  took  up  arms  in  Belgium  to  establish.  The 
idea,  the  principle  that  toppled  over  the  government 
in  France,  here  sat  on  the  throne ;  in  a  word,  in 
France  the  people  rose  in  opposition  to  the  nobility 
and  the  priesthood  which  were  then  leagued  with  the 
monarchy ;  in  Belgium  it  was  the  worldly  and  clerical 
aristocracy  which  opposed  the  emperor  and  people, 
although  ostensibly  only  the  former. 

Can  one  who  critically  follows  the  events  from  the 
year  1787  to  1792  be  in  doubt  by  whom  and  for 
whose  profit  those  agitations  were  started  which  devas- 
tated the  country,  and  by  whom  they  really  were 
directed  ? 

The  changes  undertaken  by  Joseph  II.  in  his  states, 
and  these  were  soon  called  innovations,  a  term  which 
has  become  odious,  aimed  to  do  away  with  bond  service 
and  compulsion  of  conscience  by  the  introduction  of  a 
universal  toleration.  He  improved  the  laws,  the  courts 
of  justice,  and  all  branches  of  the  administration,  pre- 
sented his  peoples  the  freedom  of  the  press,  abolished 
capital  punishment,  regulated  the  pensionary  system 
and  the  police,  encouraged  agriculture  and  public 
instruction.  He  also  severed  the  alliance  of  the  friars 
with  Rome,  and  suppressed  those  monasteries  which 
had  no  schools,  did  not  care  for  the  sick,  and  whose 
monks  did  not  preach ;  thus,  in  time,  the  number  of 
monks  and  nuns  in  the  Austrian  state  was  reduced  to 
about  forty  thousand.  The  final  achievement  of  the 
French  revolution  after  a  long  and  bloody  course,  the 
great  equivalent  it  offered  Europe  for  those  sufferings 
which  it  had  heaped  upon  the  Avorld,  that  very  thing 
this  Austrian  Emperor,  to  whom  universal  history  still 
owes  great  honourable  amends,  desired  to  establish  by 
the  aid  of  his  sovereign  power. 

And  in  a  few  years  we  behold  the  people  in  almost 
every  part   of   his    extensive   empire    rejecting   with 


42  Holland  and  Belgium. 

armed  hand  those  advantages  which  their  ruler  is  hold- 
ing out  to  them. 

Joseph  was  forced  to  withdraw  all  that  had  been 
already  effected  and  perfected  by  him  in  his  reign ; 
shortly  before  his  death  he  destroyed  his  whole  work, 
or  rather  he  died  because  this  had  to  be  done. 

It  will  be  said  that  the  time  was  too  short,  the 
people  were  not  ripe,  were  not  at  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment which  is  necessary  for  the  transformation  of  a 
thing  so  long  persistent  in  itself,  and  that  is  true, 
although  but  little  development  is  required  in  order 
that  a  peasant  should  understand  that  it  is  better  to 
be  a  landlord  than  a  servant.  And  how  was  it  possible, 
then,  to  raise  the  people  to  this  stage  except  by  this 
transformation?  It  will  be  further  claimed  that  the 
Emperor,  by  the  improvement  of  the  system  of  the  ad- 
ministration, concentrated  the  latter  in  his  own  hands  ; 
but  was  it  not  the  people  themselves  that  secured  the 
most  inestimable  advantages  in  this  way  ?  It  is  obvious 
that  the  opposition  came  from  that  class  which  had  to 
sacrifice  a  part  of  their  privileges  for  the  good  of  the 
whole,  and  when  we  see  the  so-called  people  blindly  allied 
with  this  class  against  their  benefactor,  it  so  happened 
because  revolution  is  almost  in  every  case  a  surprisal  of 
the  popular  will  by  a  faction,  and  because  that  faction 
in  Belgium  consisted  principally  of  the  clergy.  For 
this  class  in  the  Catholic  Netherlands  had  known  how 
to  preserve  for  itself  such  influence  as  perhaps  no 
country  in  Europe  excepting  Spain  offered  a  counter- 
part, and  which  would  be  regarded  as  impossible  at 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  were  it  not  that  we 
again  find  it  undiminished  at  the  beginnino;  of  the  nine- 
teenth. 

The  first  tumultuous  seditions  broke  out  at  Louvain 
in  the  newly-founded  seminary,  against  the  establish- 
ment of  which  the  Archbishop  of  Mechelen  had  raised 
great  objections.  The  young  clergymen,  regardless  of 
their  profession,  broke  windows   and   seats,  violently 


Holland  and  Belgium.  43 

demanded  better  nourishment,  among  which  was  good 
beer,  while  others  wished  to  have  a  purer  spiritual 
nourishment  taught. 

Scenes  of  a  serious  aspect  soon  followed  in  Brussels, 
when  the  states  of  Brabant,  on  account  of  the  infraction 
of  the  Joyeuse  Entree,  their  charter,  to  which  the 
emperor  had  sworn  at  his  oath  of  allegiance,  had 
refused  to  pay  the  usual  revenues.  In  a  few  places,  it 
is  true,  the  country  folk  had  demanded  that  in  the 
future  their  taxes  should  be  paid  directly  to  the 
emperor  and  no  longer  to  the  states,  and,  if  one  may 
judge  from  this,  the  average  man  was  by  no  means  so 
opposed  to  the  new  reforms  as  was  claimed  to  be  the 
case  in  Brussels.  The  result  was,  that  the  people 
were  filled  with  a  general  indefinite  mistrust  both 
of  the  government  and  of  the  measures,  to  which  latter 
those  previously  adopted  were  said  to  serve  only  as  an 
introduction.  Moreover,  in  many  places  this  mistrust 
broke  out  in  open  resistance. 

Nothing  aided  the  originators  and  directors  of  these 
scenes  so  much  as  the  remoteness  of  the  emperor,  who 
was  at  that  time  at  the  very  extreme  end  of  Europe  ; 
that  is,  in  Chersonese.  The  Duke  of  Saxony-Teschen, 
Governor  of  the  Netherlands,  believed  that  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  yield  to  the  general  opposition, 
and  he  postponed  the  emperor's  new  orders  until  he 
should  learn  his  decision  more  definitely. 

When  the  emperor,  on  his  return,  received  the  first 
information  regarding  the  things  that  had  happened, 
his  indignation  and  anxiety  were  not  greater  than  his 
astonishment.  He  commanded  the  states  to  send  a 
deputation  to  Vienna  in  order  to  explain  the  events 
that  had  taken  place. 

After  a  long  struggle,  the  states  were  obliged  to 
decide  upon  this  embassy,  but  they  wished  it  to  be 
regarded  merely  as  an  act  of  politeness. 

"  In  view  of  what  has  happened,"  the  emperor  said 
in   addressing   them,  "  mere  coining  of  words    is  not 


44  Holland  and  Belgium. 

sufficient ;  there  is  need  of  deeds  to  convince  one  of 
the  good  intentions  of  those  who  have  sent  you.  I 
daily  furnish  irrefutable  proofs  that  the  welfare  of  my 
people  is  the  only  object  of  my  actions.  How  little  I 
purposed  to  annul  the  constitution  of  your  country 
you  are  probably  convinced,  when  I  assure  you  that 
you  are  to  keep  it  at  the  very  moment  when  you 
have  committed  so  great  a  crime,  when  you  have 
deserved  my  anger,  and  when  I,  notwithstanding,  take 
no  regard  of  the  means  which  my  power  offers  me." 

At  the  close  of  the  audience  the  emperor  summoned 
the  deputies  to  repair  to  him  on  such  a  day  and  in 
such  numbers  as  they  chose.  "I  wish,"  said  he,  "to 
inform  myself,  through  you,  and  you  will  not  refuse  to 
hear  me.  One  has  never  found  me  deaf  to  reasonable 
propositions ;  what  you  say  will  be  without  personal 
consequences  to  you,  and  so  you  may  also  regard  that 
which  I  shall  say  to  you." 

At  times  the  emperor  approved  the  concessions  of 
the  General- Governor,  but  he  remained  unmoved  in 
regard  to  the  changes  which  he  considered  necessary 
for  the  country. 

Indeed,  if  advancement  is  a  necessary  condition  to 
prevent  mankind  from  receding,  so  the  institutions 
which  exist  for  the  present  must  not  be  reared  for 
eternity.  Just  as  nature  rejuvenates  itself  from  its 
own  resources,  so  must  human  institutions  renew 
themselves  with  the  races,  but  this  regeneration  must 
issue  from  above,  not  from  below.  It  must  be  the 
government  which  conducts  the  revolution  in  a  lawful 
manner  ;  not  the  mob,  that  play-ball  of  parties,  that 
blind  but  cutting  tool  in  the  hand  of  passion.  A 
government  which  recognizes  and  anticipates  the 
needs  of  its  people,  whatever  otherwise  may  be  its 
form,  will  always  be  the  most  liberal  of  all  govern- 
ments, and  stands,  nowadays,  at  the  head  of  the  vast 
party  of  all  reasonable  people  in  all  countries. 

But  because  enlightenment  serves  only  as  a  measure 


Holland  and  Belgium.  45 

for  the  strength  of  the  parties  where  the  people  are 
very  enlightened,  so  it  happened  that  in  Belgium  the 
party  of  the  classes  had  the  control.  At  their  head 
were  two  men  who  were  at  that  time  as  celebrated  as 
to-day  they  are  forgotten,  namely,  Van  der  Noot  and 
Van  Eupen.  The  first,  a  man  without  talent  and 
without  merit,  fled  from  Brussels  because  the  govern- 
ment was  dissatisfied  with  him.  An  accident  brought 
him  in  contact  with  Pitt,  and  the  interest  which  people 
took  in  the  disturbances  gained  for  him  an  audience 
in  the  Hague  and  at  Potsdam.  He  promised  his 
countrymen  the  support  of  foreign  powers,  which 
never  came  about,  and  he  became  the  idol  of  the 
people  through  the  blind  favour  of  the  crowd,  without 
having  justified  this  trust  by  a  single  act. 

The  second  leader,  Van  Eupen,  was  a  clergyman, 
who,  more  conscious  of  his  aim,  used  the  popularity 
of  Van  der  Noot  to  advance  his  own  interests.  After 
playing  out  his  own  part,  he  was  transported  through 
the  French  to  Guyenne  ;  but  his  colleague  died  not  far 
from  Brussels  in  the  year  1826,  without  the  name  of 
Van  der  Noot  having  again  been  mentioned,  since  his 
ephemeral  appearance,  during  the  following  thirty-five 
years.  The  party  composed  of  the  classes  now  saw 
very  well  that  the  revolution  was  in  their  favour. 
From  earliest  times  Brabant  had  been  governed  as  a 
limited  monarchy,  composed  of  the  sovereign,  the 
people,  and  the  classes.  Therefore  since  the  revolution 
now  declared  that  the  emperor,  as  Duke  of  Brabant, 
has  forfeited  his  rights,  the  classes  as  middle-party, 
believe  that  they  had  become  sovereign ;  thus  the 
limited  monarchy  is  changed  into  an  absolute  aris- 
tocracy. 

But  here  they  encountered  the  opposition  of  a 
second  party,  which,  much  smaller  in  numbers, 
counted  as  its  members  far  more  intelligent  men.  It 
was  the  party  of  the  Vonkists,  so  named  from  their 
leader,  Vonk,  the  lawyer. 


46  Holland  and  Belgium. 

Since  this  party  demanded  the  old  constitutional 
form  of  government  with  a  new  system  of  representa- 
tion, in  which  the  secular  clergy,  the  smaller  cities, 
the  flat  country,  in  short  all  classes  of  the  people, 
should  be  duly  represented,  they  announced  them- 
selves as  deadly  foes  of  the  state  party  whose  private 
interests  threatened  them  still  more  than  did  the 
emperor. 

Meanwhile,  at  the  instigation  of  Vonk,  an  armed  force 
of  two  or  three  thousand  men  was  collected,  whom  Van 
der  Marsch  led  in  opposition  to  the  Imperialists.  Van 
der  Noot,  in  constant  hope  of  foreign  aid,  had  rejected 
this  procedure,  and  made  it  an  object  of  ridicule. 
Notwithstanding,  Van  der  Marsch  drove  the  Austrian 
General  Schroeder  out  of  Turnhout  with  great  loss, 
into  which  city  people  hastily  followed  after  him ;  he 
also  captured  the  guns  on  this  occasion.  Bruges, 
Ghent,  and  Brussels  were  gradually  lost,  and  the  rare 
sight  was  afforded,  says  de  Pradt,  of  seeing  the 
Austrian  armies,  which  had  as  good  a  reputation  as 
any  in  Europe,  and  which  had  been  disciplined  by  the 
most  scientific  system  of  tactics,  and  in  many  places  had 
been  exhibited  as  a  model,  beaten  by  the  Turks  and 
monks  on  every  side.  The  emperor  found  it  hard  to 
believe  all  these  reports,  and  he  could  do  nothing  more 
than  emphatically  condemn  the  measures  of  his 
generals,  "  who,"  as  he  expressed  himself,  "  attacked 
the  dissatisfied  as  if  they  were  Turks  or  Prussians." 

Under  the  thunder  of  cannon  and  the  ringing  of 
bells  Van  der  Noot,  whom  they  called  the  Belgian 
Franklin,  was  conducted  into  Brussels.  The  procession 
passed  under  arches  of  triumph  into  the  Gudula  church, 
where  the  clergy  scattered  incense  over  this  tool 
of  their  plans,  and  from  there  it  marched  to  the 
theatre,  where  Van  der  Noot,  in  the  box  of  the 
general-governors,  was  crowned  with  laurel  by  the 
actors. 

But,  however  intoxicated  such  successes  might  make 


Holland  and  Belgium.  47 

the  man  of  the  people,  he  could  scarcely  fail  to  see  the 
abyss  which  yawned  at  his  feet. 

The  party  of  the  states  had  always  confidently 
counted  upon  the  aid  of  foreign  powers,  but  when 
every  hope  of  such  a  nature  finally  vanished,  this 
aristocratic  monkish  faction  continued  with  wonderful 
persistence  to  deliver  itself  into  the  protection  of 
France,  which  was  destroying  its  aristocracy  and  clergy. 

But  France  was  willing  to  recognize  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Netherlands  only  on  condition  that  the 
states  should  be  remodelled.  Of  course,  this  had  so 
little  to  do  with  the  plan  of  the  plenipotentiaries  that 
the  matter  was  allowed  to  remain  undisturbed. 
Despite  all  this,  the  press  of  circumstances  led  to  new 
negotiations  with  France,  although  everything  opposed 
the  success  of  this  step.  The  Belgians,  who  in  the 
sedition  were  disposed  to  favour  institutions  which  the 
constituent  assembly  was  wrecking  with  consistent  per- 
severance, believed  that  their  natural  allies  were  to  be 
found  in  those  who  differed  so  greatly  from  them,  and 
even  the  clergy  themselves  were  constant  in  their  belief 
that  the  French,  who  were  then  driving  out  their  own 
monks,  would  offer  protection  to  those  in  Belgium. 
Thus  men  are  blinded  by  personal  interest,  and  at  this 
very  moment  we  are  amazed  by  an  instance  almost  like 
it  and  accompanied  by  similar  circumstances. 

France,  in  agreement  with  the  stipulations  to  which 
it  had  sworn  at  that  time,  submitted  to  the  states  the 
conditions  upon  which  it  was  willing  to  grant  them 
recognition.  The  first  article  contained  the  demand 
that  they  should  elect  a  prince  from  the  Austrian  house, 
and  this  was  sufficient  to  move  the  deputies  of  the 
people  of  Brabant  to  forbid  an  announcement  of  this 
same  demand,  "sous  peine  de  coups  de  baton." 

But  the  fact  that  after  the  death  of  Emperor  Joseph, 
in  February,  1791,  his  successor,  Leopold  II.,  offered 
conciliatory  propositions  to  the  states  which  Avere 
most   favourable  and    agreeable,  made    it  still  worse. 


48  Holland  and  Belgium. 

The  adherents  of  Vonk  as  well  as  every  impartial 
person  recognized  the  advantage  that  had  been  offered, 
and  believed  that  it  was  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
putting  an  end  to  so  much  evil. 

Now,  the  more  it  became  feared  that  these  obviously 
simple  reasons  would  carry  their  point,  and  common 
sense  would  get  control,  so  much  the  greater  was  the 
demand  that  Van  der  Noot  and  his  supporters  should 
overthrow  so  formidable  a  rival,  which  began  to  be 
far  more  dangerous  than  the  armies  of  Austria. 

In  doing  this  they  now  had  excellent  support  in  the 
clergy  which  absolutely  ruled  the  wills  of  the  people 
and  which  laboured  with  them,  especially  in  view  of 
this,  the  week  preceding  Easter.  The  Bishop  of 
Mecheln  declared  that  all  those  "  whose  wicked  views 
smacked  of  the  philosophy  of  the  century "  were 
enemies  of  religion  and  of  the  country.  He  blessed,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  the  name  of  religion,  the  stipulations 
which  belonged  to  his  regime. 

Van  Eupen  proposed  to  have  the  volunteers  of 
Brussels  swear  allegiance  to  the  sovereign  states.  On 
the  9th  of  March,  1791,  they  were  assembled  in  the 
market-place,  and  Van  der  Noot  went  there  to  take 
the  oath.  But  three  companies  declared  that  they 
would  swear  allegiance  only  to  the  nation,  and  soon  the 
rest  of  the  companies  went  over  to  their  side.  All 
harangues,  threats,  stratagems,  were  in  vain,  and  Van 
der  Noot  might  have  thought  himself  well  off  to  have 
escaped  under  the  protection  of  the  Duke  of  Ursel. 
His  arts  were  lost  as  soon  as  he  encountered  men  with 
their  own  opinions,  but  this  party  was  the  smaller,  and 
Van  der  Noot  now  sought  refuge  in  the  mob  which  he 
controlled. 

The  usual  expedient  was  put  into  operation — a 
popular  riot.  During  the  night  the  houses  of  forty- 
one  Vonkists  were  placarded,  and  on  these  placards  it 
was  written  in  verse  that  the  houses  would  be  plundered, 
burned,  and  their  owners  murdered. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  49 

The  next  morning  the  incitable  rabble  marched  to 
the  city  hall,  crying,  "  Long  live  Van  der  Noot !  " 
where  they  were  met  by  some  members  of  the  states 
council ;  and  now,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
capuchins  and  dominicans,  they  hastened  to  do  the 
plundering,  while  their  priests  showed  them  the  houses 
which  were  turned  over  to  them  in  the  name  of  religion 
and  the  fatherland.  Abbe  Feller  sarcastically  called 
this  an  exercise  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 

Meanwhile,  the  volunteers  were  assembled  in  order 
to  put  an  end  to  these  horrible  scenes,  but  Van  der 
Noot  forbade  them,  in  the  name  of  the  nation,  to 
fire  on  their  brothers,  and  when,  notwithstanding  this 
order,  one  company  did  scatter  the  mob,  it  was  dis- 
banded. The  society  of  the  Vonkists  was  from  this 
time  forced  to  disband.  Since,  however,  these  men 
were  still  feared  by  their  opponents,  the  latter  pardoned 
them  for  their  having  been  willing  to  employ  means 
to  murder  the  Bishop  of  Mecheln,  the  states,  the 
clergy,  the  volunteers,  Van  der  Noot,  and  Van  Eupen. 
All  this  was  credited  by  the  populace,  and  it  was 
now  only  a  question  whether  it  was  necessary  to 
observe  law  in  opposing  the  Vonkists. 

The  Jesuit,  Feller,  who  has  not  unjustly  been  called 
an  ecclesiastical  Marat,  believed  "  that  this  would  be  a 
ridiculous  and  cruel  sophism,"  and  that  during  a 
revolution  no  other  law  than  le  cri  public  could  be 
valid.  Still,  the  dissolution  of  the  Vonkist  party  at 
Brussels  did  not  end  its  existence  ;  their  principles  were 
timidly  announced  by  the  officers  at  Namur.  Mean- 
while, the  populace  was  kept  in  a  good  temper  by 
the  processions  and  wonderful  sights  that  had  been 
promised. 

However,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  illustrate  farther 
the  sad  picture  of  party  strife,  in  order  that  he  who 
has  understood  the  recent  events  that  have  happened 
should  be  led  to  recognize  the  marked  similarity  in 
the  origin  and  operations  of  both  Belgian  revolutions. 

vol.  1.  E 


50  Holland  and  Belgium. 

The  Belgian  demagogues  up  to  this  date  had  not 
deigned  to  answer  the  emperor's  proposals  for  a  re- 
conciliation, and  the  clergy  even  spurned  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Pope.  Abbe  Feller  found  arguments  for 
this  action  in  the  text  of  the  sacred  scriptures,  accord- 
ing to  which  he  protested  that  the  house  of  Austria 
was  in  one  of  those  epochs  of  decaying  power,  and  the 
scriptures  say  of  it :  "  dorninus  locutus  est  super  earn." 

The  congress  of  the  allied  powers  (Prussia,  England, 
and  Holland)  at  Reichenbach,  together  with  the  prox- 
imity of  an  Austrian  army,  finally  put  a  stop  to  the 
disorder.  From  this  time  on  Van  der  Noot  and  Van 
Eupen  buried  themselves  in  oblivion,  and  the  patriotic 
army  disappeared. 

But  the  Austrian  rule,  in  spite  of  the  greatest 
leniency  and  the  most  impressive  severity,  suited  to 
the  temporary  demands,  did  not  succeed  in  restoring 
perfect  quiet,  and  the  Netherlands,  especially  Brabant, 
were  still  in  the  most  violent  state  of  fermentation  when 
the  French  armies  marched  across  the  frontier. 

The  Belgian  people,  which  we  have  just  seen  en- 
gaged in  a  struggle  against  enlightenment  and  liberal 
institutions,  could  hardly  have  had  an  extensive 
intellectual  kinship  with  their  neighbours,  the  new 
French  republicans. 

But  just  as  the  term  United  Provinces,  both  in 
Belgium  and  Holland,  had  been  in  almost  all  periods  of 
their  history  true  only  externally,  so  now  also  the 
provinces  were  wholly  at  variance  with  each  other. 
For  from  the  time  of  their  existence  these  countries  for 
whose  conquest  or  preservation  Spain,  France,  England, 
Austria,  Prussia,  and  Holland  had  stood  almost  the 
whole  time  with  sword  in  hand,  used  every  moment  to 
quarrel  among  themselves  when  no  foreign  powers 
were  devastating  their  territory.  At  present  Brabant 
took  sides  with  the  nobles  and  the  monks,  Flanders 
with  the  democrats,  and  Luxemburg  was  in  favour  of 
the  emperor. 


Holland  and  Belgium.  51 

If  this  was  the  reason  why  the  French  drove  out  the 
Austrian  army  so  much  more  easily,  yet  this  could 
never  have  served  as  an  invitation  for  them  to  annex 
themselves  more  closely  to  France.  Still  this  plan  was 
popular  in  the  congress. 

The  deputies  from  several  cities  convened  at  Mons  in 
February,  1793.  Here  a  sermon  was  preached  to  them 
in  the  cathedral,  and  the  speaker  had  hardly  uttered 
the  words,  "  Alliance  with  France,"  when  the  Jacobins, 
who  surrounded  the  tribune,  unanimously  shouted, 
"  Alliance,  alliance."  To  be  sure,  a  far  greater  number 
cried,  "  No  alliance  !  Our  own  constitution  !  "  But  the 
Jacobins  had  been  so  foresighted  as  to  arm  themselves, 
and  with  their  sabres  and  daggers  they  drove  the  evil- 
minded  ones  out  of  the  church,  and  the  vote  for 
alliance  Avas  passed  unanimously. 

At  Brussels  also  the  deputies  were  now  summoned 
to  "  consider "  the  alliance,  an  invitation  which  those 
concerned  did  not  avail  themselves  of  for  good  reasons, 
so  that  here  the  incorporation  with  France  was  con- 
cluded, and  was  proclaimed  this  same  year  by  the 
congress. 

Belgium,  in  company  with  France,  ran  through  the 
whole  scale  of  various  forms  of  government,  from  the 
zero  of  anarchy  up  to  the  degree  of  military  despotism. 

Torn  by  factions  like  its  southern  neighbours, 
Holland  also  became  an  easy  prey  to  France,  for  the 
anti-Orange  party  was  only  subdued,  not  extermi- 
nated. 

France  presented  the  Batavian  Republic  with  a 
constitution  for  which  it  paid  one  hundred  million 
florins,  and  which  ceded  the  whole  of  Maestrich, 
Venlo,  Dutch  Limburg  and  Dutch  Flanders,  and 
lasted  six  years.  Since,  however,  the  Republic  as  a 
whole,  in  spite  of  all  changes,  was  not  successful,  the 
regency  of  Louis  Napoleon  and  finally  incorporation 
with  the  empire  were  tried  without  bringing  the 
Hollanders  any  cause  to  congratulate  themselves  upon 

e  2 


52  Holland  and  Belgium. 

better  times.  Finally  came  the  year  1813,  with  its 
historical  events,  so  important  in  their  results,  and  the 
entry  of  General  von  Biilow  restored  to  the  Nether- 
lands liberty  which  they  used  to  call  back  the  Prince 
of  Orange  as  their  regent.  In  the  year  of  1815  the 
Vienna  Congress  formed  by  the  union  of  Holland  and 
Belgium  the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  two  parts  of  the  new 
state  were  combined  were  very  different. 

During  the  time  of  the  French  influence,  Holland 
had  suffered  inestimable  losses.  The  Bank  of  Amster- 
dam, once  so  rich,  was  now  almost  ruined,  its  credit 
shaken,  all  sources  of  help  on  the  state's  part 
dried  up,  and  the  burden  of  debt  monstrous.  The 
Peace  of  Amiens  was  a  misfortune  to  the  country,  and 
the  Tariff  of  Trianon  threatened  to  give  the  death  blow 
to  all  that  was  left  of  mercantile  life.  The  proud 
merchant  of  Holland  did  only  a  smuggling  business 
with  England.  The  invasion  of  the  British  and 
terrible  floods  seemed  to  complete  the  ruin  of  the 
unfortunate  country,  which,  excluded  from  all  the 
profitable  trade  of  France,  was  obliged,  however,  to 
share  in  all  its  wars.  Holland  lost  its  colonies,  its 
commerce,  and  its  fleet,  or,  in  other  words,  the  sources 
of  its  prosperity  and  the  means  to  make  use  of  them. 

And,  indeed,  Belgium  also  had  to  make  great  sacri- 
fices under  the  rule  of  the  French.  The  conscription, 
the  heavy  taxes  of  the  droits  reunis,  were  burdensome 
to  the  Belgians,  and  they  were  dissatisfied  with  the 
French  rulers  as  they  had  been  at  all  times  with  their 
own.  But  the  union  with  France  yielded  great  advan- 
tages to  the  class  engaged  in  trade,  and  the  Belgians 
also  were  not  insensible  of  the  military  glory  of  that 
country,  in  which  they  too  were  participants. 

So  the  defeat  of  Napoleon  and  his  sovereignty  was 
not  unfavourable  to  them,  but  to  Holland  it  was 
a  necessity.  What  in  the  former  case  seemed  desirable 
was  in  the  latter  a  rescue  from  complete  extermination  ; 


Holland  and  Belgium.  53 

and  thus  the  union  of  these  two  parts  was  viewed  with 
very  different  feelings. 

The  Hollanders  had  elected  from  their  midst  a  king 
for  themselves,  to  whom  they  were  closely  attached  by 
historical  reminiscences  and  a  common  interest ;  and 
truly,  if  sovereignty  is  justly  based  upon  legitimate  in- 
heritance or  upon  election,  King  William  I.  united  both 
claims  in  his  person.  Belgium  received  its  king  from 
Europe,  and  from  the  first  it  regarded  itself  less  as  an 
integrant  part  of  the  new  state  than  as  one  attached 
to  the  old  state,  and  this  very  thing  hurt  its  national 
feeling  the  more  since  it  was  greater  in  area  and  popu- 
lation. 

Holland  also  was  not  without  a  party  which  wished 
to  see  the  son  of  the  last  hereditary  Stadtholder  come 
into  the  possession  of  his  father's  place  and  under  the 
same  conditions.  Only  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  of 
the  six  hundred  notables  who  were  convoked  for  the 
adoption  of  the  new  constitution  appeared,  and  many  of 
these  cast  their  vote  only  conditionally.  Since,  however, 
the  conditions  were  not  specified,  the  new  regulation 
was  passed  by  four  hundred  and  forty-nine  against 
twenty-six  votes. 

It  is  true  that  the  title  of  king,  as  a  title,  could 
hardly  be  the  object  of  strong  objection,  but  what  was 
most  important  from  its  very  nature  was  this,  namely, 
that  each  one  who  loved  his  fatherland  and  its  history 
must  feel  how  necessary  it  was  to  consolidate  that 
highest  power  in  such  a  way  that  it  could  ensure  the 
country  against  the  storms  of  party  fury,  storms  that 
had  so  often  and  so  long  laid  it  to  waste.  But  to  those 
who  feared  danger  from  a  too  great  extension  of  the 
supreme  power,  the  new  regent  had  already  given 
an  example  of  his  sentiments  when  he  it  was  that 
urged  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  by  which  all  the 
rights  of  the  citizens  should  be  assured,  and  which  he 
made  the  express  condition  of  his  acceptance  of  the 
sovereignty  offered  him. 


54  Holland  and  Belgium. 

When,  now,  Belgium  was  incorporated  into  the 
kingdom  of  the  Netherlands,  they  extended  the  consti- 
tution, which  was  originally  for  Holland,  with  required 
modification  to  both  countries.  Sixteen  hundred  and 
three  notables  were  convoked  in  order  to  vote  upon  the 
adoption  of  the  fundamental  law.  Two  hundred  and 
eighty  of  these  men,  who  had  not  been  elected  without 
governmental  influence,  stayed  away,  and  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-six  opposed  the  constitution ;  and  of  this 
itself  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Review  says :  "It  is  a 
liberal  platform,  and  its  mistakes,  if  they  can  be  shown, 
are  less  what  it  defines  than  what  it  does  not  define." 
When  one  considers  that  the  Belgians  certainly  had 
not  been  spoiled  by  constitutional  treatment  under  the 
rule  of  the  empire,  these  proceedings  already  give  a 
proximate  measure  of  the  state  of  mind  with  which 
Belgium  contemplated  its  manage  de  convenance  with 
Holland. 

When,  in  consequence  of  this,  the  government  crossed 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  of  the  negative  votes  so 
cast  on  account  of  the  religion  of  the  head  of  the  state, 
and  then  counted  the  two  hundred  and  eighty  non- 
voters  as  silently  affirmative  in  order  thus  to  secure  a 
majority  of  eleven,  it  resorted  to  this  strange  kind  of 
arithmetic  only  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  the  public 
scandal  incurred  by  a  people  that  stubbornly  rejected 
the  liberty  so  generously  offered  them  by  the  govern- 
ment itself. 

The  Belgians  were  greatly  offended  because  they, 
who  constituted  two-thirds  of  the  kingdom  as  regards 
area  and  population,  should  be  represented  by  the 
same  number  of  deputies  (fifty-five)  as  Holland.  Sub- 
sequently several  bills  were  actually  passed  with  a  weak 
majority  of  two  votes,  in  which  one  is  pleased  to  see 
two  Belgians  in  public  service  who,  as  the  people  at 
Brussels  put  it,  were  untrue  to  the  interests  of  the 
fatherland.  The  Hollanders  replied  to  this  that  the 
whole  constitution  was    originally  framed  so  that  no 


Holland  and  Belgium.  55 

part  should  rule  the  other  and  be  able  to  prescribe  its 
laws,  and  thus  the  interest  of  the  one  should  not  be 
advanced  at  the  cost  of  the  other.  Although  Holland 
at  the  very  beginning  had  voluntarily  renounced  a 
preponderance  over  Belgium,  yet  it  would  not  have 
been  wise  for  Holland  to  have  surrendered  to  its  new 
brothers  that  superior  influence  over  it  by  allowing 
sixty-six  Belgian  votes  against  forty-four  Hollandish. 

We  stated  before  that  the  national  debt  of  Holland 
was  enormous.  It  amounted  to  twelve  or  thirteen 
million  florins.  It  is  true  Napoleon  diminished 
(tiercee)  a  third  of  it  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  but  by 
this  measure  a  multitude  of  individuals,  of  orphans, 
of  the  poor  and  minors  lost  all  they  had,  and  the 
king  partly,  too,  in  order  to  get  credit  for  the  new 
loans  which  were  absolutely  necessary,  called  two-thirds 
of  this  clette  morte  back  to  life.  Now  the  debt  of 
Belgium  was  very  small,  and  when  the  Belgians  saw 
that  they  must  help  to  bear  equally  the  Hollandish 
debt,  they  thought  the  unfairness  of  it  the  greater, 
when  they  declared  that  no  equivalent  for  such 
demands  could  be  found.  The  Hollanders,  however, 
reckoned  as  such  the  indemnification  of  Sweden 
through  the  indirect  surrender  of  several  colonies  and 
the  abandonment  of  very  considerable  claims  on  several 
powers.  They  counted  in  this  also  Belgium's  par- 
ticipation in  Holland's  colonial  trade  and  the  large 
sums  which  were  applied  for  relieving  the  extremely 
depressed  state  of  Belgian  manufactures.  The  whole 
industrial  and  commercial  business  of  this  province 
was  certainly  elevated  in  various  ways  from  the  time 
of  its  union  with  Holland.  Antwerp  had  attracted  to 
itself  so  much  of  the  colonial  trade,  that  amongst  other 
things  the  importation  of  coffee  was  almost  equal  to 
that  of  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam,  and  Hamburg  together  ; 
it  imported  almost  twice  as  much  cotton  and  exported 
the  same  amount  of  hides  as  Hamburg ;  and  it  Avas  not 
without   envy  that   Amsterdam    saw   the   elder   com- 


56  Holland  and  Belgium. 

mercial  sister  of  the  south,  which  had  already  once 
outlived  its  brilliant  flower  of  youth,  start  up  to  carry 
off  the  palm  of  victory  a  second  time.  However,  the 
Belgians  themselves  anticipated  these  fears,  for  they 
victoriously  pursued  business  from  their  factories  and 
trade  from  their  cities.  The  state  of  their  industry, 
which  had  been  skilfully  restored  to  a  certain  extent, 
was  again  terribly  shaken,  and  the  Belgian  was  right  to 
expect  great  and  bounteous  results  from  the  political 
renaissance,  the  coining  of  which  had  called  forth  such 
unspeakable  misfortune  upon  his  country,  and  more- 
over those  who  had  forcibly  led  on  that  crisis  were 
responsible  for  the  compensation  of  their  countrymen 
for  such  inestimable  sacrifices. 

Nor  is  it  strange  if  Holland  and  Belgium  believe 
they  are  equally  justified  in  making  demands  on  each 
other.  If  the  dissolution  of  partnership  of  two  com- 
mercial houses  produces  great  complications,  how 
infinitely  much  greater  must  these  be  when  two  great 
commercial  states  wish  to  separate  their  financial 
alliance  from  each  other. 

There  was  one  other  circumstance  which  contributed 
not  a  little  in  preventing  a  closer  union  of  the  two 
provinces,  namely,  that  the  lengthy  separation  of  the 
individual  parts,  the  continued  influence  of  outside 
powers,  and  the  lack  of  a  mutual  bond  of  national 
interests,  had  prevented  the  original  native  language 
from  becoming  the  language  of  the  whole  people  just  as 
much  as  it  had  prevented  the  language  of  any  of  the 
neighbouring  peoples  from  being  more  than  partially 
used ;  and  all  interference  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment in  this  respect,  without  the  intentional  opposition 
of  certain  provinces,  was  the  more  useless  since  such  a 
union  could  only  be  the  result  of  time. 

Such  were  the  conditions  under  which  Belgium  and 
Holland  came  together  as  one  common  state,  and  such 
were  the  seeds  of  dissension,  which  after  this  union 
caused  an  opposition  to  spring  up  against  the  govern- 


Holland  and  Belgium.  57 

ment,  on  the  crest  of  which  again  figured  an  arch- 
bishop, the  Archbishop  of  Ghent.  For  of  all  the 
obstacles  opposed  to  the  amalgamation  of  the  two 
parts,  there  was  indeed  none  so  insurmountable  as  the 
difference  of  faith,  an  inexhaustible  source  of  dissen- 
sion, when  one  considers  the  mind  and  dependence  of 
the  layman  and  the  lust  for  power  and  intolerance  of 
the  clergy  in  Belgium. 

Forcible  events,  the  result  of  those  conditions,  have 
at  the  present  moment  split  the  kingdom  of  the 
Netherlands  again  into  two  hostile  parts,  have  de- 
stroyed the  prosperity  of  these  countries,  just  begin- 
ning to  bud,  and  have  again  exposed  them  to  all  those 
devastations  which  have  so  often  wasted  them  in  the 
past.  The  torch  of  war  which  destroyed  Antwerp 
again  to-day  threatens  to  set  Europe  on  fire,  and  is 
restrained  only  by  the  sublime  moderation  of  the 
monarchs,  a  moderation  which  appears  the  more 
brilliant  in  its  glory,  when  it  is  opposed  to  personal 
feeling  and  family  interests,  when  the  sovereign  con- 
trolling great  armies,  ready  to  strike,  sure  of  his  people's 
state  of  mind,  nevertheless  prefers  the  palm  of  peace 
to  the  laurels  of  victory. 

Here  no  judgment  ought  to  be  passed  upon  an  event 
which  is  so  near  to  us  in  time,  respecting  which  we 
cannot  yet  reflect  upon  the  thoughtful  appreciation  of 
intelligent  men  of  both  parties,  and  in  which,  although 
there  may  be  no  trace  of  partiality,  yet  inherited 
principles  may  perhaps  unconsciously  be  intermingled  ; 
upon  such  an  event,  we  repeat,  no  judgment  need  be 
passed  here.  In  case  of  historical  events,  the  issue  is 
a  voice  of  criticism,  and  it  is  reserved  for  the  future, 
perhaps  the  very  near  future,  to  reveal  the  result  of  the 
Belgian  Revolution. 


POLAND. 


PREFACE. 


This  essay,1  like  that  on  Holland  and  Belgium,  also  owes  its  origin 
to  the  study  of  contemporary  matters. 

The  field-marshal  had  special  reasons  for  taking  active  part  in  the 
events  that  had  agitated  Russia  in  Poland  since  the  latter  part  of  the 
autumn  of  1830.  When  a  young  officer  he  was  on  intimate  terms 
with  a  noble  Polish  family,  continuing  the  intimaey  for  many  years, 
and  again  later,  in  1829  and  1830,  he  also  had  the  opportunity  to 
travel,  as  topographer,  through  the  exclusively  Polish  districts  of  the 
province  of  Posen  in  all  directions  and  for  months  at  a  time.  The 
strange  life  and  customs  of  the  Polish  people,  the  tragic  history  of 
this  talented  nation,  for  which  it  has  itself  to  blame,  must  have  made 
an  indelible  impression  upon  this  son  of  the  German  coast  of  the 
Baltic  Sea,  upon  him  who  was  the  friend  of  whatever  had  come  into 
existence  through  historical  development,  in  the  same  manner  as  he, 
being  a  close  observer  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  landscape,  was 
certainly  surprised  and  impressed  by  the  melancholy  monotony  of  the 
Sarmatian  plains  with  their  dark  forests  of  pine.  Besides  this,  the  heroic 
struggle  of  the  Poles  against  the  Russians  elicited  his  military  inte- 
rest, and  Prussia  itself  had  to  send  out  four  army  corps  under  command 
of  Gneisenan  for  the  protection  of  its  eastern  boundary.  These  were 
reasons  enough  for  absorbing  his  personal  attention  in  the  study  of 
the  literature  treating  of  the  country  and  the  people — this  literature 
has  been  superseded  nowadays,  of  course.  The  views  expressed  by 
him  in  an  article  like  this  were  the  ones  then  generally  promulgated 
and  uttered  by  numerous  personages  who  had  acquired  a  very 
thorough  acquaintance  with  Poland  and  its  inhabitants,  depending 
wholly  on  their  own  observation,  previous  to  the  year  1806,  when 
a  large  part  of  Great  Poland,  together  with  Warsaw,  was  in  the  hands 
of  Prussia  for  a  decade. 

One  can  summarize  the  whole  result  of  his  copious  remarks  as 
follows  :  that  he  purposed  to  show  how  all  classes,  all  races,  all 
religious  bodies  are  ruined  and  bad  fruits  are  borne  under 
an  unfortunate  constitution,  under  a  bad  government,  or  under 
a   government   whose   administration    is   hindered   by    a   bad   con- 

1  It  was  published  by  G.  Fincke,  in  Berlin,  1832.  In  the  year  1884  it 
was  reprinted  with  omissions  in  the  magazine  "  Vom  Fels  zum  Mcer." 


62  Poland. 

stitution ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  how  a  good  government  and 
healthy  conditions  of  state  and  society  work  for  the  ennoblement  of 
all  these  constitutent  parts.  Moreover,  the  occasionally  severe 
criticisms  in  this  article  are  to  be  explained  by  the  point  of  view 
taken  by  the  author,  who  wished  to  emphasize  the  differences 
between  the  relations  existing  in  Poland  and  those  at  home. 

Nor  must  it  pass  unsaid  that  the  field-marshal  has  been  moved 
to  criticize  this,  his  own  work,  forty  years  afterwards,  on  account 
of  this  same  point  of  view.  A  prominent  scholar  of  Polish  history, 
Professor  Caro,  in  Breslau,  inquired  of  him  in  the  year  1873 
whether  the  book,  "  Representation  of  the  internal  relations  of  Poland, 
etc.,"  which  he  had  discovered  under  the  inexhaustible  literary 
chaff  heaped  up  upon  the  Polish  question,  was  written  by  the  field- 
marshal  himself.  The  latter  charily  acknowledged  his  authorship, 
and  added,  "  that  he  counted  the  article  also  among  the  inexhaus- 
tible chaff"  ;  it  was  mostly  an  excerpt  from  better  works,  and  he 
should  like  to  see  it  committed  to  oblivion. 

If,  in  spite  of  this,  the  article  is  published  again,  it  is  because  of 
the  good  reasons  stated  in  the  preface  to  this  volume. 

Moreover,  the  field-marshal  himself  in  his  earlier  years  was 
pleased  Avith  his  work.  In  proof  of  this  there  is  a  letter  of  the 
13th  of  January,  1832,  written  to  his  mother,  which  states  that  he 
is  very  much  delighted  on  account  of  the  favourable  criticism  passed 
by  the  critic  upon  his  article  :  "  He  would  not  believe  that  this 
H.  v.  M.  was  a  modest  second  lieutenant ;  he  thought  it  was  a 
man  who  had  already  passed  fifty  years  in  looking  about  the  world." 


AN   ACCOUNT   OF   THE 

INTERNAL   STATE   OF  AFFAIRS 


AND  OK   THE 


SOCIAL  CONDITION   OF   POLAND. 


In  no  country  has  the  character  of  the  nobility  pro- 
ceeded so  directly  from  the  state,  and  nowhere  else 
has  the  destiny  of  the  state  depended  so  much  upon 
the  character,  the  opinions  and  morals  of  the  nobility 
as  in  Poland,  because  nowhere  else  have  the  nobility 
and  state  been  identical. 

At  a  period  little  accessible  to  history,  when  the 
Slavonic  tribes  flooded  the  plains  of  Eastern  Europe 
and  spread  from  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Adriatic  to 
the  Baltic  and  the  Arctic  Ocean,  hordes  of  Tartars 
poured  in  rapid  succession  from  the  regions  aban- 
doned by  the  Sarmates  and  forced  this  nomadic  tribe 
to  become  a  warlike  people.  Here,  as  everywhere, 
the  men  that  had  the  means  to  procure  a  horse 
and  weapons,  and  had  the  strength  to  use  them, 
undertook  to  protect  their  newly-acquired  possessions. 

These  possessions,  the  obligations  imposed  by  them, 
and  the  personal  authority  which  both  imparted, 
became  hereditary,  for  inheritance  is  as  old  as  posses- 
sion ;  both  are  closely  related  and  are  the  first  products 
of  social  comnmnion.     A  class  was  thus  formed  which 


64  Poland. 

one  may  call  nobility  or  protectors,  for  in  their  deriva- 
tion both  words  are  identical.  The  protected  became 
dependent  on  the  protector,  just  as  everywhere  else ; 
the  latter  grew  to  be  the  more  powerful,  he  became 
privileged  and  influential,  and  entered  into  a  republican 
relationship  with  his  equals.  Since,  moreover,  the 
military  origin  and  the  warlike  purpose  of  this  nobility 
necessarily  demanded  unity  of  command  and  of  govern- 
ment, there  originated  that  part  of  the  monarchical 
principle  which  the  constitution  adopted  later. 

The  nobles  were  in  exclusive  possession  of  all 
political  rights  ;  they  alone  formed  the  state.  Poland 
was  a  republic  composed  of  about  three  hundred 
thousand  small  sovereignties,  each  of  which  was 
immediately  connected  with  the  state,  was  subject  to 
only  the  whole,  and  recognized  no  kind  of  liege  lord 
relation  or  feudal  dependence.  No  Polish  nobleman 
was  under  the  sovereignty  of  another.  Even  the 
servant,  provided  he  was  a  nobleman,  had  the  same 
political  rights  as  his  master,  and  the  most  insignificant 
among  them  entered  the  diet  in  the  full  enjoyment  of 
that  share  of  sovereignty  which  was  equal  for  all  with- 
out distinction.  In  this  respect  the  Polish  constitution 
differs  essentially  from  the  feudal  states  of  the  west  as 
well  as  from  the  despotism  of  the  east,  and  it  is  with 
amazement  that  we  behold  the  earliest  European 
constitution,  that  of  the  Celts,  Franks,  and  Goths, 
continuing  until  our  own  time. 

Those  Slavonic  tribes  which,  much  later,  of  course, 
were  known  under  the  general  name  of  Russians, 
received  their  first  instruction,  their  religion,  customs, 
and  manners,  their  letters  and  a  part  of  their  language 
from  the  Greeks.  The  Poles,  on  the  other  hand,  came 
in  closer  connection  with  the  west  of  Europe,  and  at  an 
early  date  both  kindred  peoples  had  taken  a  very 
divergent  course,  both  in  culture  and  development. 

The  idea  underlying  the  mutual  relations  of  the 
Polish   nobility   was    that    there   should    be    perfect 


Poland.  65 

equality  for  all  and  the  greatest  possible  independence 
for  each  individual. 

Starting  from  the  principle  that  no  free  man  can  be 
taxed  or  governed  contrary  to  his  own  declared  will, 
all  regulations  of  this  nature,  that  is,  all  laws  were 
required  to  proceed  from  the  unanimous  consent  of  all, 
but  the  objection  of  a  few  or  of  a  single  one  was 
enough  to  prevent  them. 

One  must,  then,  assume  that  those  nations  which 
submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  majority  (and  this  is,  of 
course,  the  case  to-day,  without  which  we  cannot  think 
of  a  state),  that  those,  at  least  once  in  their  history, 
unanimously  determined  to  recognize  *  the  majority  as 
an  authority,  and  that  the  abrogation  of  the  necessary 
agreement  of  all  must  be  the  last  act  of  this  unanimity 
in  order  to  seem  to  be  justly  established. 

The  Polish  nobleman  recognized  his  obligation 
towards  the  whole  country ;  he  submitted  to  the  law, 
but  the  law  had  to  be  the  will  of  all  the  nation.  If  he 
had  yielded  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  plurality,  he 
would  have  regarded  himself  as  crushed  by  tyranny,  and 
the  principle  of  perfect  equality  was  carried  so  far  that 
the  will  of  one  outweighed  the  will  of  all,  so  that  the 
"  Yes  "  of  an  assembly  of  one  hundred  thousand  noble- 
men in  the  election  field  was  annulled  by  the  "  No  "  of 
a  single  one  of  their  number,  and  the  hand  of  one 
individual  could  seize  upon  the  motive  power  of  the 
machine  of  the  state  and  bring  it  to  a  standstill. 

We  emphasize  this  right  of  the  absolute  veto  (the 
liberum  veto)  primarily  because,  justifiable  as  it  was  in 
principle,  dangerous  in  practice,  and  so  disastrous  in  its 
abuse,  it  has  at  all  times,  nevertheless,  seemed  to  the 
Pole  to  be  the  most  sacred  pledge  of  his  independence. 

But  the  more  inclination  and  custom  scattered  the 
Polish  nobility  over  its  remote  landed  possessions, 
where  each  noble  ruled  independently  in  his  own  circle, 

'J.J.  Rousseau. 
VOL.    I.  F 


66  Poland. 

the  more  necessary  was  it  to  concentrate  the  common 
interests  of  the  state  in  the  person  of  a  chief.  But  that 
same  vigorous  sense  of  independence  allowed  them  to 
regard  this  supreme  head,  Avhich  in  the  last  centuries 
had  the  title  of  king,  and  that,  too,  very  figuratively, 
as  the  highest  dignity,  indeed,  but  by  no  means  the 
highest  power.  Besides  the  splendour  of  the  crown, 
the  king  had  the  right  only  to  appoint  officers,  to  dis- 
tribute the  possessions  of  the  state,  and  to  administer 
justice. 

The  occupation  of  the  throne  was  dependent  upon 
the  election  of  the  assembled  nobles.  If  a  few  re- 
nowned families  understood  how  to  make  the  crown 
hereditary  for  more  or  less  time  in  their  family,  the 
nation  never  delayed,  on  the  extinction  of  these  families, 
to  make  its  claims  good  by  election  again. 

Besides  the  elective  king  there  was  the  perpetual 
senate,  formed  of  bishops,  woiwodes  or  palatines, 
and  castellans,  who,  of  course,  were  nominated  by  the 
king,  but  who  (since  Casimir  the  Great)  could  not  be 
removed,  and,  therefore,  have  naturally  preserved  great 
freedom  of  power  and  independence. 

The  woiwodes  (from  woy  =  war,  and  ivodz  =  leader) 
or  palatines,  were  governors  of  a  province  or  palati- 
nate, and  chief  of  the  nobles  of  said  province,  whom 
they  led  at  the  assemblies,  on  the  election-field,  and  in 
time  of  war.  They  had  the  right  to  fix  the  price  of 
products,  to  regulate  measures  and  weights,  and  they 
had  their  own  courts. 

Below  the  palatines  Avere  ranked  the  castellans,  ori- 
ginally commanders  of  the  royal  cities  and  strongholds, 
non-hereditary  burgraves.  In  their  district  they  had 
the  prerogative  of  the  palatines,  and  represented  them 
in  their  absence. 

Originally  the  office  of  the  castellans  was  transferred 
to  the  starosts.  The  starosts  practised  jurisdiction  in 
the  cities,  and  were  invested  with  considerable  grants 
of  land  as  a   reward   for   long  services   to   the   state 


Poland.  67 

(hence  the  name).  They  were  required  to  administer 
justice.  But  only  one  of  the  starosts,  the  one  of 
Samogetia,  had  a  seat  in  the  senate,  and  this  was  an 
exceptional  case. 

This  senate  consisted  of  two  archbishops,  fifteen 
bishops,  thirty-three  palatines,  eighty-five  castellans ; 
in  total,  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  senators. 

The  chief  of  the  senate  was  the  incumbent  arch- 
bishop of  Gnesen,  as  primate  of  the  kingdom,  the  first 
in  rank  after  the  king,  and  even  he  himself  was  king 
during  an  interregnum,  on  which  account  he  was  also 
called  Interrex.  He  was  legatus  natus  of  the  papal  see, 
and  received  princely  honours,  had  like  the  king  his 
own  marshal,  his  own  chancellor  and  numerous 
mounted  lifeguards.1 

The  king  stood  to  receive  the  primate,  and  the  latter 
had  the  right  to  remonstrate  with  him  as  to  his  govern- 
ment, and  in  case  the  king  persisted  in  his  course,  he 
could  renew  these  remonstrances  in  the  convened 
senate,  or  in  the  imperial  diet.  By  a  bull  of  Clement 
VIII.,  the  bishops  were  empowered,  in  spite  of  the 
maxim,  "The  Church  abhors  bloodshed,"  to  vote  for 
war,  to  sign  death  warrants,  and  to  take  part  in  all 
deliberations. 

The  senate  provisionally  passed  sentence  until  the 
convention  of  the  next  imperial  diet,  shared  the 
supreme  power  with  the  king,  and  never  ceased  to 
limit  the  rights  of  the  crown,  until  the  imperial  diets 
deprived  it  of  its  own  privileges.2 

The  whole  tendency  of  the  constitution  was  to  make 
the  important  governmental  dignities  and  offices  no  less 
elective  than  the  throne  was,  and  the  oft-repeated 
attempts  of  powerful  families  to  keep  them  hereditary 
were  just  as   frequently  defeated  by  the  jealousy   of 

1  Avec  un  timbalier  et  des  trompettes  qui  jouent  quand  il  est  a 
table  et  qui  sonuent  la  diane  et  la  retraite.  Histoire  de  J.  Sobieski, 
par  l'Abbe  Coyer.     Amsterdam. 

2  Solignac. 

F    2 


68  Poland. 

the  entire  body.  This  non-inheritableness  of  the  pala- 
tinates, which  may  perhaps  be  compared  with  the  more 
ancient  ducal  dignity  of  the  Teutonic  peoples,  and  of  the 
offices  of  castellan  and  starost,  made  it  impossible  for 
an  electorate,  a  peerage,  or  a  higher  rank  of  nobility, 
to  be  formed  next  to  the  kingship,  and  thus  enable  the 
kingship  to  fasten  its  root  in  the  people.1 

It  is  true  the  king  was  the  only  distributer  of  the 
supposed  many  and  important  grants,  but,  inasmuch  as 
he  did  not  dare  to  remove  again  the  men  he  had  once 
chosen,  the  royal  influence  was  actually  felt  less  by  those 
Avdio  were  in  possession  of  great  dignities  than  by 
those  who  did  not  have  them.  Therefore  the  king  was 
surrounded  more  by  flattering  courtiers  than  by 
dependent  officials  of  the  government ;  the  former  at 
any  rate  were  linked  to  the  interests  of  the  crown  by 
their  expectations ;  the  latter  generally  by  gratitude. 
The  important  posts  were  gifts  dependent  upon  the 
sovereign's  will,  to  him  who  sought  them,  but  property 
of  the  republic,  in  the  eyes  of  him  who  had  received 
them  ;  and  the  bestowal  of  a  post  generally  produced  a 
hundred  grumblers  and  one  ingrate. 

The  ministers  of  the  king  were  ten  in  number,  and 
were  ranked  as  follows  : 

The  general  of  the  crown  for  Poland,  the  same  for 
Lithuania,  the  high  chancellor  for  Poland,  the  same  for 
Lithuania,  the  two  vice-chancellors,  the  lord  high 
treasurer,  the  marshal  of  the  royal  household  for 
Poland,  and  all  the  same  for  Lithuania.  These 
ministers  had  a  seat  in  the  senate,  but  without  consult- 
ing powers. 

The  general  of  the  crown  was  the  third  personage 
in  the  state,  his  power  was  almost  unlimited,  and  was 
more  extensive  than  that  of  the  constables  that  have 
often  been  so  formidable  to  the  crown  of  France.     In 


1  Rulhicre,  Histoire   de  l'anarchie  de  la  Pologne.     Paris,    1807, 
vol.  i. 


Poland.  69 

time  of  war  the  crown-general  was  wholly  independent 
of  the  king,  and  was  lord  over  the  life  and  death  of  his 
subordinates. 

However  difficult  it  may  seem  under  such  circum- 
stances, nay,  however  impossible,  for  a  king  ever  to 
succeed  in  making  an  independent  party  for  himself  in 
the  state,  which  might  endanger  the  rights  of  indi- 
viduals, yet  the  nation  had  believed  it  necessary  to 
make  itself  safe  against  any  such  possible  preponder- 
ance of  power,  and  employed  a  method  unknown  in  the 
history  of  any  other  people.  This  remedy  was  the 
"  Confederation." 

There  is  no  mistaking  that  the  oldest  of  all  rights,  the 
right  of  the  stronger,  that  of  might,  continuously 
exercised  its  influence  through  the  whole  history  of 
Poland,  indeed  it  may  be  said  it  was  legally  established 
there  in  the  sight  of  the  people.  We  recognize  its 
existence  even  in  the  execution  of  the  sentences  of  the 
king,  and  these  were  executed  by  the  armed  noble 
upon  the  one  condemned,  who  on  his  part  seemed  per- 
fectly justified  if  he  used  force,  influence  and  alliances, 
and  if  he  summoned  his  retainers  and  lifeguards  for 
the  prevention  of  such  execution.  In  fact,  it  had  gone 
so  far  that  if  such  a  judicial  campaign  was  repulsed 
three  times,  the  case  was  allowed  to  pass  for  the  time, 
and  until  the  intervention  of  the  republic. 

We  recognize  this  force  no  less  at  the  assemblies  of 
the  nobility,  in  behalf  of  general  councils  or  elections. 

If  on  these  occasions  individuals  or  parties  stubbornly 
dare  to  oppose  their  personal  interests  to  the  will  of 
the  nation,  if  persuasion,  patience,  and  threats  have  no 
power,  then  it  was  by  no  means  an  uncommon  occurrence, 
in  case  of  the  fatal  nie  pozwolan(  I  do  not  consent),  to 
see  a  thousand  sabres  bared,  and  the  opposition  quickly 
ended  by  the  overthrow  of  the  daring  opponents. 
This  was  the  only  method  of  procedure  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  absolutely  necessary  unanimity,  but  it  was 
for  the  most  part  a  salutary  limitation  upon  the  abuse 


7° 


Poland. 


of  the  dangerous  liberum  veto,  whose  disastrous  results 
were  first  brought  to  light  during  the  last  three 
hundred  years,  when  these  assemblies  were  represented 
by  deputies,  who  refrained  from  such  acts  of  violence. 
Thus  the  right  of  the  stronger  party  is  not  so  much  an 
abuse  as  a  necessary  element  of  this  peculiar  constitu- 
tion. 

But   the  legal   exercise    of  violence  is   seen  in   its 
highest  potentiality  in  the  confederation. 

Unlike  the  established  principle  of  other  people,  that 
regarded  revolution  as  the  greatest  evil  in  the  state, 
with  this  nation  revolution  was  organized  according  to 
law.  If  hi  the  republic  any  matter  of  interest  was 
supported  by  a  sufficiently  large  number,  and  it  could 
not  be  carried  because  of  the  existing  government,  or 
because  of  the  veto  of  single  persons,  those  interested 
in  it  assembled  in  a  confederation,  solemnly  joined 
themselves  by  an  oath,  elected  a  marshal,  seized  their 
arms  and  won  their  cause  by  fighting.  The  might  of 
the  confederation  was  their  right,  and,  whatever  was 
the  issue  of  the  undertaking,  none  of  the  participants 
could  ever  be  punished  or  regarded  as  a  rebel.  At 
these  confederations  the  resolutions  of  the  majority 
were  decisive,  just  as  the  confederation  generally,  was 
nothing  else  than  a  forcible  carrying  out  of  the  will  of 
the  majority  of  the  nation.  The  liberum  veto  was 
suspended  during  this  dictature,  which  very  often  had 
no  other  object  than  the  preservation  of  the  liberum 
veto. 

But  in  order  that  so  violent  a  remedy  for  tyranny 
should  not  itself  become  tyranny,  the  length  of  the 
confederation  was  arranged  previously,  and  at  its 
expiration  all  its  decisions  became  null ;  after  it  as 
before,  only  that  which  had  been  unanimously  passed, 
continued  to  be  legal,  and  each  confederation  ended 
with  the  convocation  of  an  imperial  diet. 

Although  the  king  and  senate  together  exercised 
supreme    power    in   the   state,    the   real   sovereignty 


Poland.  7 1 

resided  in  the  collective  body  of  the  nobility,  which 
could  make  its  will  legally  valid  in  opposition  to  both 
at  the  imperial  diet,  provided  it  was  united  in  itself, 
or  by  means  of  a  confederation  (rokosz).  In  case  the 
throne  was  vacant  it  recovered  its  transferred  rights, 
examined  the  use  of  this  power  under  the  previous 
regent,  and  consigned  it  to  a  new  ruler. 

The  assemblies  in  the  palatinates  or  state  diets  pre- 
ceded the  imperial  diet  by  six  weeks,  where  those 
subjects  were  agitated  and  prepared  which  were  to  be 
decided  at  the  general  assembly  of  the  nation.  The 
most  violent  and  most  sanguinary  scenes  could  hardly 
be  avoided  here  where  the  judges  of  the  two  tribunals, 
and  furthermore  the  provincial  deputies,  were  nomi- 
nated, and  where  each  nobleman  of  the  province 
appeared  in  person,  armed  and  mounted. 

The  king  was  bound  to  convoke  the  imperial  diet 
every  two  years.  If  he  omitted  it,  the  nation  had  the 
right  to  convene.  The  diet  elected  a  marshal,  who 
had  great  influence  upon  affairs.  All  deliberations 
took  place  publicly,  or  with  open  doors,  and  in  this 
diet  resided  the  highest  legislative  power,  based  on  the 
condition  of  unanimity  of  votes. 

The  affairs  of  individuals,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
settled  by  a  majority  vote,  and  by  summary  pro- 
ceedings. Advocates  and  defenders  were  unknown. 
The  interested  parties  presented  their  own  case,  and 
the  decisions  were  made  without  delay  or  expense.  It 
is  characteristic  that  the  same  men  deliberated  in  the 
senate,  made  the  laws  in  the  imperial  diet,  pronounced 
sentence  in  the  tribunal,  and  wielded  the  sword  on  the 
battlefield.  For  the  noble  who  possessed  all  honours 
and  all  privileges  in  the  state,  believed  also  that  the 
whole  protection  of  the  same  devolved  upon  him. 

Poland  is  the  only  European  state  that  even  as  late 
as  the  sixteenth  century  had  no  other  military  force 
than  the  armed  and  mounted  nobility.  The  infantry 
was  not  worthy  of  consideration.     The  only  distinction 


j2  Poland. 

was  between  hussars  and  mailed  horsemen.  The 
former  were  the  more  numerous,  and  young  noblemen 
had  to  serve  in  this  corps,  in  order  to  qualify  them- 
selves for  governmental  honours.  Then,  hussars  and 
their  armour  were  very  different  from  what  is  at 
present  understood  by  that  name.  They  wore  a 
helmet  and  cuirass,  with  a  tiger  skin  thrown  over  it, 
carried  lances  fifteen  feet  long,  adorned  with  a  pennant, 
two  pistols,  and  two  sabres,  one  of  which  was  fastened 
to  the  saddle.  The  hussars  first  exchanged  the  lance 
for  the  musket  after  Sobieski's  time. 

The  cavalry  was  composed  of  the  flower  of  the 
nobility,  it  was  splendidly  mounted,  and  numbered  forty 
thousand  men. 

The  mailed  horsemen  were  somewhat  inferior.  They 
wore  a  shirt  of  mail  made  of  scales  or  rings,  and 
generally  formed  the  life  guards  of  the  high  officials, 
the  bishops  and  archbishops. 

All  these  soldiers  called  themselves  towarczycz,  that 
is,  brothers,  and  they  were  so  addressed  by  their  kings 
themselves. 

In  times  of  emergency  Poland  exhibited  an  extra- 
ordinary spectacle ;  noblemen,  numbering  between 
150,000  and  200,000,  were  mounted  and  formed 
an  immense  but  disorganized  army.  Such  meetings 
were  called  pospolite  ruszenie. 

A  splendid  characteristic  of  this  military  nobility 
was  the  simplicity  of  its  life.  Each  noble  passed  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  on  his  estates  ;  there  he  spent 
his  income,  practised  an  extensive  hospitality  which 
seems  to  be  of  Asiatic  origin,  and  kept  himself  remote 
from,  and  independent  of  the  court.  The  wealth  which 
the  nobleman  obtained  from  his  subjects  returned  also 
to  them.  A  few  settles,  tables,  and  carpets,  formed 
the  furniture  of  the  richest  palatines.  The  women  were 
unacquainted  with  luxury,  and  held  aloof  from  inter- 
ference in  political  matters,  which  was  afterwards  by 
no  means  the  case.     Good  armour  and  excellent  houses 


Poland.  73 

were  the  sole  splendours  of  the  men.  Their  dress  had 
an  Asiatic  appearance.  They  wore  long  mantles 
trimmed  with  fur,  with  slashed  sleeves  and  wide  belt, 
fur  caps,  curved  sabres  and  half  boots.  Like  the 
Tartars  they  shaved  off  all  their  hair  excepting  a  tuft 
which  was  left  standing  on  the  crown  of  the  head.1 

The  ancient  Poles  practised  great  tolerance.  They 
took  no  part  in  all  the  religious  feuds  which  devastated 
Europe  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.2 
Calvinists,  Lutherans,  Greeks,  Schismatics  and 
Mohammedans  long  lived  peacefully  in  the  midst  of 
them,  and  for  a  long  time,  and  not  without  reason, 
Poland  was  called  the  "  Promised  Land"  of  the  Jews. 

Yes,  the  Poles  made  their  kings  sware  to  tolerate  all 
sects  in  the  pacta  conventa.  When  Henry  of  Valois 
sought  to  avoid  this  oath,  the  crown-general  declared 
to  him  frankly,  "  Si  non  iurabis,  non  regnabis." 

However,  the  Poles  were  exceedingly  strict  in  the 
observance  of  the  external  ceremonies  of  the  Church. 
From  the  very  beginning,  Christianity  seemed  to  them 
too  gentle.  They  inflicted  upon  themselves  severer 
privations,  they  added  to  the  fasts  of  Fridays  and 
Saturdays  those  of  Wednesdays  and  Septuagesima. 
The  popes  themselves  abolished  some  of  the  severe 
penances  which  the  Poles  practised. 

In  their  intercourse  with  one  another,  the  nobility 
manifested  great  cordiality  and  frankness,  far  removed 
from  subordination  to  the  more  powerful  or  the  richer. 

Their  needs  were  so  few  that  poverty  was  not  yet 

1  Cromer  (p.  73)  declares  that  this  fashion  was  imposed  by  Pope 
Clement  II.,  when  he  released  the  monk  Casimir  from  his  vow  in 
order  to  place  him  on  the  Polish  throne  1041,  and  from  that  time 
until  this  it  has  been  conscientiously  followed. 

2  La  Pologne  n'a  vu  dans  son  sein  ni  conspiration  des  poudres  ni 
St.  Barthelcmi  ni  senat  £gorge  ni  rois  assassines  ou  sur  un  ecbafaud 
ni  des  freres  armes  contre  des  freres ;  c'ctait  lo  pays  ou  Ton  a  bride 
le  moins  de  monde  pour  s'etre  trompe  dans  le  dogme.  La  Pologne 
cependant  etait  barbare — ce  qui  prouve  qu'une  demi-science  est  plus 
orageuse  que  la  grossiere  ignorance.  (L'Abbe-  Coyer,  Livre  I.) 


74  Poland. 

classed  with  dependence.  All  intercourse  bore  the 
stamp  of  the  original  equality  of  all  noble  men.  The 
term  of  address  was  "Brother"  (brat),  and  it  is  still 
employed.  There  were  no  titles1  nor  outward  dis- 
tinctions. The  Czartoryiski,  the  Sangusko  and 
Wisniowiecki  were  the  only  houses  recognized  as 
princely,  which  at  the  union  of  Lithuania  with  Poland 
came  over  to  this  republic,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution.  Orders  and  decorations  of  such  a  nature 
were  arbitrary  grants  of  the  monarchs,  which  were 
introduced  first  under  Augustus  II.  and  Poniatowski 
and  were  never  valued.2  The  position  in  the  state 
alone  showed  the  rank  of  the  nobleman. 

In  consequence  of  these  many  excellent  qualities  of 
its  citizens,  the  republic  maintained,  not  only  its  ex- 
istence in  the  very  midst  of  states  which  were  rapidly 
developing  and  were  constantly  being  subjected  to  the 
will  of  their  sovereigns,  hence  constantly,  acting  with 
greater  unity ;  but  by  this  primitive  simplicity  in  its 
arrangements,  by  the  unbounded  respect  for  the  rights 
of  the  individual  and  for  the  advancement  of  the  whole, 
made  necessarily  difficult  by  this  regard  for  the 
individual,  it  also  reached  a  high  degree  of  power, 
influence  and  distinction,  and  it  may  be  claimed  that 
in  the  fifteenth  century  Poland  was  one  of  the  most 
civilized  states  in  Europe.  But,  naturally,  with  a  con- 
stitution so  deficient  and  imperfect,  as  was  this  of  the 
republic,  the  virtues  of  the  citizens  had  to  make  up  the 
great  supplementary  half  and  to  supply  good  customs 
for  a  lack  of  good  laws.  Along  with  the  advantages  of 
higher  civilization  crept  in  also  luxury,  corruption  and 

1  Les  titres  de  marquis  et  de  comte  s'y  sont  introduits  avec  les 
cuisiniers  francais.  II  n'y  en  a  que  pour  des  valets  et  de  flatteurs. 
(L'Abbe  Coyer,  Histoire  de  J.  Sobieski.) 

2  Augustus  II.,  founded  the  order  of  the  white  eagle  in  the  year 
1705,  during  the  war  with  Sweden.  The  order  of  St.  Stanislaus, 
1765,  and  of  the  Military  Honour-roll,  1791,  date  from  Stanislaus 
Augustus  Poniatowski. 


Poland.  75 

all  the  vices  which  seem  to  be  inseparable  from  it,  and 
the  moment  the  adminstration  of  the  government 
ceased  to  be  based  on  the  proper  qualification  of  the 
individual,  it  necessarily  followed  that  the  incom- 
petency of  the  laws  and  the  difficulty  of  their  execution, 
allowed  monstrous  abuses  also  to  creep  into  all  branches 
of  the  administration.  The  ancient  laws  continued, 
but  the  customs  were  changed,  and  as  no  law  can  be 
maintained  in  opposition  to  customs,  these  continued 
to  exist  only  as  forms  to  which  a  new  interpretation 
was  given,  a  misfortune  for  which  the  constitution  had 
no  remedy,  because  it  abolished  the  constitution  itself. 

Contrary  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  con- 
stitution, "The  perfect  equality  of  the  rights  of  all 
the  citizens  of  the  state,"  there  gradually  grew  up  an 
immense  difference  in  wealth,  and  thereby  a  real 
inequality  among  the  possessors  of  the  same. 

The  king's  favour  had  often  heaped  upon  one  head 
important  government  positions  and  rich  starosties,  had 
often  rewarded  son  and  grandson  with  them,  and  thus 
single  families  had  kept  these  properties  for  a  long 
time,  although  not  as  inheritances.  More  or  less  careful 
economy,  marriages,  hereditary  successions,  in  short, 
luck  and  cleverness  had  amassed  in  some  families  al- 
together disproportionate  wealth,  while  others  less 
fortunate  sank  to  the  lowest  poverty  through  their  own 
extravagances,  or  even  their  own  virtues.  Accordingly, 
wealth  was  no  longer  a  mere  reward  to  which  the  king- 
elevated  the  most  deserving,  it  was  independent  pro- 
perty which  became  hereditary. 

There  were  Polish  noble  families  which  possessed 
estates  far  surpassing  many  a  sovereignty  in  area  at 
that  time.  Thus,  centuries  before,  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  the  constitution,  the  Radziwills  had  established 
an  entail  in  their  family,  so  that  the  head  of  this  house 
became  the  most  powerful  private  individual  perhaps 
in  Europe.  He  had  a  retinue  of  some  hundred  nobles, 
possessed  several  fortresses  and  maintained  six  thousand 


76  Poland. 

body-guard.  The  Oginski,  the  Czartorinski,  the  Tarlo, 
the  Zamoyski,  Lubomirski,  Pototski  and  others  were 
hardly  less  powerful  and  wealthy.  When  one  reflects 
that  the  recognition  of  law  must  be  accomplished  by 
armed  force,  one  understands  that  it  was  not  an  easy 
task  to  obtain  justice  from  such  citizens  in  the  state. 

The  complication  itself,  attendant  upon  these 
immense  fortunes  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  country, 
tended  to  increase  the  influence  of  the  wealthy  families. 
The  greater  part  of  the  landed  estates  were  mortgaged 
for  comparatively  small  sums.  With  the  increasing 
value  of  the  property  and  the  constantly  decreasing 
value  of  capital  resulting  from  the  interest  on  the 
money,  the  redemption  of  the  mortgaged  property 
would  have  been  the  greatest  misfortune  for  the  holder, 
and  the  payment  of  the  sum  would  have  caused  his 
ruin.  In  this  way  a  great  number  of  smaller  land- 
owners depended  wholly  on  the  nobles,  and  secured 
their  own  prosperity  only  by  an  unconditional  alliance 
with  the  interests  of  the  latter.  But  while  a  small 
part  of  the  nobility  amassed  immense  wealth,  a  far 
greater  number  lost  all  their  possessions.  These  im- 
poverished noblemen  were  now  hospitably  received  by 
the  chiefs  of  the  powerful  families.  They  made  for  the 
latter  a  princely  household  and,  indeed,  one  thoroughly 
military,  they  received  arms,  horses,  shelter  and  support 
from  their  liege  lord,  and  in  return  they  gave  their 
vote  at  the  diet  and  their  support  in  many  and  almost 
uninterrupted  quarrels. 

This  boundless  hospitality  was  wholly  commensu- 
rate with  the  immense  wealth  of  the  possessors.  More- 
over, the  large  number  of  poor,  dependent  szlachcziz  1 
was  of  vast  importance  to  the  great  lords,  and  fre- 
quently not  only  their  influence,  but  also  their  welfare 
and  their  personal  safety  depended  on  the  number  and 
the  bravery  of  those  whom  they  commanded.     They 

1  Noblemen. 


Poland.  77 

were  always  needing  this  small  army  of  valorous  men 
who  had  nothing  but  their  lives  to  lose.  Sometimes 
it  was  to  recapture  a  rebellious  castle  or  a  city,  some- 
times to  evade  the  execution  of  a  sentence ;  to-day  a 
lengthy  suit  had  to  be  settled  by  the  shorter  course, 
by  force  ;  to-morrow  a  restless  neighbour  had  to  be 
threatened.  But  more  especially  was  it  at  the  imperial 
diet,  where  the  interests  of  the  individual  as  well  as 
those  of  the  community  were  dealt  with  on  the  basis 
of  wealth,  power,  and  influence.  There  the  retinue  of 
noblemen  derived  a  double  importance  through  their 
vote  and  their  sword,  for  this  latter  was  almost  always 
called  upon  at  the  last  moment ;  and  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  significant  sign  of  the  progress  of  civilization, 
that  only  ten  nobles  were  killed  at  the  assembly  of  the 
nobles  in  the  year  1764.1 

Accordingly,  in  Poland  a  higher  or  lower  nobility 
was  never  known,  and  one  sees  to-day,  for  the  first 
time,  Polish  families  assuming  ducal  titles  which  their 
fathers  would  have  scorned  and  which  are  inconsistent 
with  their  whole  national  history.  Power,  distinction, 
and  wealth  established  no  political  privileges  or  higher 
position,  and  the  poorest  nobleman  relinquished  none 
of  his  claims  because  of  poverty.  It  reveals,  rather, 
how  stubbornly  the  poor  nobleman  had  to  hold  on  to  a 
constitution  which  valued  him  according  to  his  birth 
alone.  The  liberum  veto  gave  weight  to  the  least  of 
them,  and  the  imperial  diet  gave  him  the  opportunity 
to  make  this  good.  Indeed,  one  instance  is  not  want- 
ing when  such  an  insignificant,  poor,  and,  what  is  more, 
hunch-backed  szlachcziz,  to  his  own  astonishment,  saw 
himself  elevated  to  the  throne,  because  the  powerful 
parties  Avere  unable  to  agree  upon  their  candidates. 

Therefore,  however  great  might  be  the  dependence 
of  the  poor  noble  upon  his  host  or  master,  their  positions 
coincide  at  this  point,  namely,  in  the  least  of  his  clients 

1  Rulhicre,  Histoire  de  l'anarchie  de  la  Pologne. 


78  Poland. 

the  latter  had  to  honour  his  equal  whose  personal  op- 
position could  be  used  against  him  and  his  entire 
party  ;  and  in  each  individual  of  the  people  he  had  to 
respect  the  sovereignty  of  this  very  same  people. 

That  wide  gulf  between  the  classes,  that  severity  in 
the  intercourse  between  superiors  and  subordinates  had 
thus  never  been  developed  in  Poland  as  in  other 
countries.  Even  to-day,  one  recognizes  in  the  humble, 
flattering  politeness  of  the  poor  Dobleman,  who  has 
been  degraded  perhaps  to  a  servant,  the  suppressed 
feeling  of  his  equality  of  birth,  and  in  the  dignified 
benignity  of  the  great,  a  kind  of  patriarchal  protection 
and  recognition  of  even  the  most  inferior.  But  this 
democracy  of  the  nobility  in  Poland  caused  the 
monarchy  to  degenerate  into  aristocracy  and  the 
aristocracy  into  an  oligarchy.1 

One  of  the  primary  causes  of  the  fall  of  the  repubtic 
was,  furthermore,  the  continual  decrease  of  the  royal 
power  in  the  state. 

In  all  the  countries  of  Europe  royal  authority  has 
progressed  more  or  less  rapidly,  but  always  continu- 
ously ;  in  fact,  in  some  it  has  reached  such  a  point  that 
it  has  destroyed  all  other  authority  about  it  and  has 
not  balanced  with  the  rights  of  the  people,  until  the  most 
violent  reactions  have  occurred.  The  Polish  regents, 
on  the  contrary,  could  never  gain  enough  influence 
to  preserve  peace  at  home,  much  less  to  exercise 
influence  abroad.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise  with 
the  election  of  monarchs.  Concessions  made  for  the 
benefit  of  the  electors  and  not  infrequently  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  community,  but  always  at  the  loss 
of  the  one  elected,  were  only  too  often  the  steps  to  the 
throne  or  the  means  to  keep  one's  self  upon  it.  Eor 
this  throne,  the  only  office  in  the  state  which  could  be 
filled  by  a  foreigner,  was  from  the  very  first  the  allur- 
ing prize  for  service,  ambition,  favour,  and  intrigues. 

1  Ferrand,  Histoire  du  dcmembrement  de  la  Pologne. 


Poland.  79 

The  influence  which  the  Roman  Curia  under 
Boleslaw  II.,  1058,  gained  over  the  kingdom  was 
already  disastrous.  Still  more  disastrously  ended  the 
fruitless  conflict  between  Casimir  the  Great,  in  1366, 
and  the  senate,  which  represented  the  pretensions  of 
the  nobility  against  the  crown,  in  order  that  it  in  turn 
might  be  supported  by  the  nobles.  The  nobility 
became  more  independent  as  the  senate  became  more 
powerful.  Both,  however,  could  happen  only  at  the 
expense,  on  the  one  side,  of  the  kingdom,  on  the  other, 
of  the  peasantry.     Yet  I  shall  speak  of  this  afterwards. 

The  Jagellons  had  deserved  well  from  the  republic 
for  uniting  to  it  so  valuable  a  province  as  Lithuania. 
This  house  also  produced  several  distinguished  men, 
and  the  throne  was  kept  in  the  family,  by  election  of 
course,  for  centuries. 

At  the  death  of  the  last  Jagellon,  however,  in  the 
year  1573,  at  the  very  time  when  Hungary  and 
Bohemia  allowed  their  elective  franchise  to  be  wrested 
from  them  by  their  kings,  when  Sweden  renounced  the 
same  right  in  favour  of  its  kings,  Poland  renewed  the 
elective  franchise  in  its  fullest  scope.  At  the  very  time 
when  European  monarchs  were  depriving  the  great 
feudal  lords  of  the  administration  of  justice,  the  Polish 
kings  were  deprived  of  this  right  by  the  nobles.  And 
at  the  very  time  when  the  people  in  Denmark  legally 
transferred  unlimited  power  to  their  king,  the  nobles 
in  Poland  destroyed  almost  the  last  traces  of  royal 
sovereignty. 

Henceforth  no  claimant  to  the  throne  had  the  favour 
of  the  multitude  to  such  a  degree  that  considerable 
opposition  did  not  take  place.  The  more  violent  the 
means  used  to  destroy  this  or  the  more  gigantic  the 
sacrifices  to  gain  it,  so  much  the  weaker  and  insecure 
the  position  of  the  monarch  was  sure  to  become. 
For  the  nobility  began  to  regard  it  as  a  prerogative  of 
their  rank  to  make  laws  which  they  did  not  obey,  and 
to  appoint  kings  whom  they  did  not  serve. 


80  Poland. 

The  personal  settlement  of  the  law-suits  was  of  itself 
impossible  for  the  kings,  because  of  the  vastness  of  the 
country.1  During  the  long  Avars  of  Stephan  Batory, 
this  right,  or  this  duty,  was  lost  altogether.  The 
nobles  made  themselves  arbiters  of  their  own  contests. 
Tribunals  were  formed  to  administer  the  laws,  which 
lasted  fifteen  months,  and  since  the  members  were  not 
appointed  by  the  king,  but  were  elected  by  the  nobility 
of  the  province  itself,  these  courts  were  only  too  often 
made  instruments  for  political  purposes.  As  the 
position  of  judge  imparted  to  the  most  insignificant 
vast  influence  over  the  affairs  of  the  most  powerful  in 
the  province,  one  conceives  how  these  elections  and  the 
very  privilege  conferred  by  them  must  have  become  a 
wide  field  for  intrigue  and  violence. 

In  the  year   1578,  the  right  to  confer  nobility  was 
also  taken  from  the  kings  and  given  to  the  diet. 

The  kings  had  no  part  at  all  in  the  legislation ;  in 
fact,  the  laws  were  made  when  there  was  no  king  in 
the  land,  namely,  at  the  interregnum.  As  soon  as  the 
throne  was  vacant  at  the  death  of  the  monarch,  and 
before  the  diet  proceeded  to  a  new  election,  the  nobles 
of  the  province  assembled,  in  order  to  examine  the 
enactments  of  the  king  and  the  senate  during  the  last 
regency.  The  arrangements  that  had  been  made 
during  this  time  could  be  abolished,  and  new  ones 
proposed,  which  were  legal  as  soon  as  the  diet  passed 
them  unanimously.  This  unanimity  however  was  never 
easy  to  secure,  and  often  only  so  when  it  abolished 
an  enactment  which  might  become  specially  dangerous 
to  the  individual  rights  or  lessened  the  authority  of 
the  crown.  For  from  the  very  first  the  Poles  have 
been  much  more  jealous  of  a  power  which  sprang  up  in 
the  midst  of  them  than  of  a  foreign  one  ;  and  so  it 
happened  that  the  Polish  noble  still  claimed  his  own 
personal  independence,  after  that  the  freedom  of  the 

1  "  lis  n'ont  fait  qu'un  juge  de  moi,"  said  Henry  of  Valois. 


Poland.  8i 

state  had  already  been  lost.  Therefore,  although  a 
king  might  labour  for  the  extension  of  his  power,  his 
successor  always  had  to  begin  the  work  anew. 

The  king  saw  himself  excluded  from  the  administra- 
tion, and  the  most  urgent  circumstances  were  not  suffi- 
cient to  justify  his  own  independent  action  without  the 
advice  of  the  senate.  This  senate l  deprived  the  king 
of  the  right  to  declare  war  and  conclude  peace.  An 
offensive  war  was  contrary  to  the  constitution,  and  was 
actually  almost  an  impossibility,  according  to  the 
organization  of  the  state.  By  law  the  nobles  were  not 
allowed  to  be  under  arms  longer  than  three  weeks,  nor 
to  bear  them  further  than  three  hours  over  the  bound- 
ary. In  case  of  a  hostile  invasion  there  was  war,  of 
course,  but  it  was  waged  by  the  woiwodships  most 
concerned  in  it  on  their  own  account,  and  often  without 
aid  from  the  crown.  Afterwards  Poland  was  forced  to 
maintain  a  standing  army  like  all  its  neighbours,  and 
this  was  not  under  the  immediate  command  of  the 
king.  He  nominated  a  crown-general  for  Poland,  and 
one  for  Lithuania,  but  he  could  not  remove  them. 
Nor  were  they  by  any  means  obliged  to  fix  a  definite 
part  of  the  state's  revenues  for  the  support  of  this 
army  ;  the  subsidies  were  granted  from  one  diet  to 
another,  and  were  most  irregularly  paid.  Therefore 
the  troops  continued  to  be  on  the  lowest  grade  of 
mediocrity,  and  they  were  less  inclined  to  give  support 
to  the  kings,  since  many  a  noble  at  times  had  more  life- 
guards than  the  crown  had  soldiers. 

If  we  add  to  this  the  measure  passed  after  the  year 
1572,  by  which  the  elections  were  no  longer  to  be  held 
by  the  deputies  of  the  palatines,  but  by  a  personal 
meeting  of  all  the  noblemen,  thus  becoming  dependent 
on  bribery  and  violence ;  by  which  all  taxes  were 
abolished  for  a  definite  duty  on  property-owners,  and 
the  king    was    not    allowed    to    retain  any   starost's 

1  Compare  Ferrand,  Histoire  du  dcmembrement  de  la  Pologne. 
VOL.    I.  G 


82  Poland. 

offices  for  himself,  but  had  to  confer  them  all  for  life 
and  irrevocably,  it  becomes  manifest  that  a  king- 
excluded  from  legislation,  without  domains,  without 
private  property,  and  without  fixed  revenues,  sur- 
rounded by  permanent  government  officers  and  re- 
movable judges,  in  short,  without  any  real  power, 
could  not  exercise  any  influence  in  his  own  state  except 
by  means  of  bribery,  intrigue,  and  party-spirit. 

The  senate l  also  was  deprived  of  its  sovereignty,  and 
the  deputies  of  the  nobility  took  to  themselves  the 
supreme  control.  The  ascendency  of  the  nobility  kept 
increasing  gradually.  The  nobles  alone  occupied  all 
the  government  offices,  the  high  religious  benefices  were 
reserved  for  them,  they  filled  exclusively  the  judicial 
positions,  and  were  perfectly  free  from  all  taxes, 
duties,  revenues,  etc.  The  nobleman  seized  upon  the 
jurisdiction  over  the  peasantry,  and  wrested  from  the 
crown  the  statute :  Neminem  captivabimas"  according 
to  which  no  nobleman  could  be  arrested  without  being 
first  convicted  ;  a  law  assuring  him  perfect  freedom 
from  punishment.  It  is  not  surprising  that  murder 
was  at  first  not  very  severely  punished  in  a  country 
like  Poland.  Every  nobleman  wore  the  sabre,  and 
knew  too  that  he  wore  it  to  protect  himself.  Murder 
was  paid  for  by  a  fine,  life-money  (the  Mandebode 
of  the  Scandinavians).  For  a  nobleman  the  fine  was 
sixty  marks  (about  nine  hundred  Rhenish  florins)  ; 
for  one  not  long  ennobled,  thirty  marks  ;  for  a  magis- 
trate or  soldier,  fifteen  marks  ;  for  a  peasant,  ten 
marks,  six  of  which  went  to  the  widow  and  children, 
four  to  the  master.  (Const.  1547,  Vol.  i.  fol.  7.)  This 
valuation  was  only  according  to  birth.     The  murder  of 

1  What  Blackstone  says  of  the  long  parliament  is  perfectly  true 
here  :  When  the  houses  assumed  the  power  of  legislation,  in  ex- 
clusion of  the  royal  authority,  they  soon  after  assumed  likewise  the 
reins  of  administration,  and  in  consequence  of  the  united  power, 
overturned  both  church  and  state,  and  established  a  worse  oppression 
than  any  they  pretended  to  remedy. 


Poland.  83 

a  priest,  although  he  were  a  bishop,  according  to  these 
conditions  could  be  atoned  for  by  only  ten  marks. 
But  when  one  considers  that  this  law  and  these  taxes 
for  human  life  were  continued  until  the  year  1768,  one 
conceives  that  a  Polish  nobleman  with  a  fortune  like 
that  of  the  Radziwills  or  Oginskys  could  enjoy  seeming 
impunity  for  murders.  It  is  true  that  Matthias  Corvin 
had  declared  capital  punishment  to  be  the  penalty  for 
murder,  but  Casirrrir  the  Great  had  it  again  abolished. 
In  Lithuania  also  capital  punishment  was  decreed,  but 
the  murder  had  to  be  proved  by  six  witnesses,  two  of 
whom  were  nobles.1 

They  utterly  bound  the  hands  of  the  regent  at  last 
when  they  made  him  swear  to  the  pacta  conventa  to 
which  a  new  limiting  article  was  added  at  every  in- 
terregnum. 

Another  chief  evil  which  injured  the  republic  was  the 
misuse  of  the  liberum  veto,  a  thing  always  dangerous  in 
itself,  which  had  become  a  law  since  the  year  1652  and 
was  called  by  the  Poles  unicum  et  sjjecialissimiim  ins 
cardinale,  a  law  presupposing  that  every  individual 
knew  what  was  right  and  desired  to  do  it. 

In  early  times  there  were  few  occasions  when  it  was 
necessary  for  the  corporation  of  nobles  who  joined  the 
nation  to  assemble. 

But  the  more  the  republic  increased  in  size  and  im- 
portance, the  more  it  came  in  contact  with  the  outside 
world  the  more  frequently  such  necessary  decisions 
upon  general  matters  of  interest  had  to  be  made.  And 
when  at  last  Poland  yielded  to  the  necessity  of  main- 
taining a  standing  army,  though  unwilling  permanently 
to  set  aside  the  sums  required  to  keep  this  powerful 
instrument  of  unlimited  power  always  dependent  upon 

1  Jekel,  Part  II [. :  and  besides  this  punishment  for  murder,  there 
was  among  others  a  law  :  Whoever  reproaches  anyone  for  not  being 
noble  (that  is,  for  having  pretended  nobility)  without  being  able 
to  prove  it,  shall  be  flogged  in  Lithuania,  and  lose  his  head  in  Poland. 
(Const.  1633,  Fol.  80G.) 

G   2 


84  Poland. 

it,  then  a  more  frequent  convocation  of  the  nobility 
became  urgently  necessary. 

In  the  year  1467,  for  the  first  time,  this  obliged  the 
imperial  diet  to  be  represented  by  provincial  deputies, 
Landbote  (a  custom  which  had  been  general  in  the  rest 
of  Europe  for  more  than  two  hundred  years),  but  the 
nobles  reserved  the  right  to  be  personally  consulted 
upon  important  affairs.  The  unanimity  of  all  was  also 
made  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  transactions  of  this 
assembly  of  representatives. 

The  provincial  deputies,  as  already  stated,  were 
elected  at  the  petty  diets  (Landtage)  which  the  king 
convoked  by  a  printed  circular-message  at  definite 
places  in  each  district  six  weeks  before  each  imperial 
diet.  And  on  the  appointed  day  the  nobles  of  the 
whole  district  met  there,  elected  a  marshal  of  the  petty 
diet  and  gave  a  hearing  to  the  royal  deputies  upon  the 
transactions  of  the  imperial  diet.  After  the  nobles  had 
departed  they  proceeded  to  the  election  of  the  provincial 
deputies,  whose  instructions  had  to  be  determined  by 
unanimous  vote.  Therefore,  of  course,  many  of  these 
petty  diets  were  broken  up,  and  the  number  of  the 
provincial  deputies  at  the  imperial  diet  was  never  com- 
plete, which,  however,  was  not  thought  to  be  necessary. 
Remarkable  is  that  law  by  which  the  deputy  who 
broke  up  the  petty  diet  by  his  veto  was  to  be  punished 
with  a  half  year's  imprisonment  in  the  tower  and  a  fine 
of  three  thousand  marks  ;  yet  this  was  not  enacted  till 
the  year  1764. 

The  provincial  deputies  were  exempt  from  arrest 
four  weeks  previous  to  and  after  the  imperial  diet,  and 
whoever  seized  one  of  them  was  punished  for  high 
treason.1  At  first  only  resident  and  landed  nobles  could 
be  elected  for  provincial  deputies,  but  later  it  was 
enough  to  be  related  to  such  a  noble. 

1  All  intercession  of  the  court  was  not  able  to  save  the  life  of  a 
Saxon  prince  who,  under  Augustus  II.,  had  taken  vengeance  on  a 
provincial  deputy  for  an  insult  inflicted  on  him  by  the  latter. 


Poland.  85 

The  place  where  the  petty  diet  met  could  not  be 
occupied  by  the  military.  No  one  dared  carry  fire- 
arms into  the  assembly,  and  it  was  also  customary  not 
to  sharpen  the  sabres. 

In  ancient  times  the  imperial  diets  were  held  in 
Lublin,  Parczow,  Piotrkowa  and  Lomza  ;  after  the  year 
1569  Warsaw  was  settled  upon  as  the  place  for  them, 
yet,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  Lithuanians,  every  third 
imperial  diet  convened  at  Grodno.  At  the  time  of  an 
interregnum  exceptions  were  made  in  the  case  of  the 
convocation — election  and  coronation — diets  which  were 
always  held  in  Warsaw. 

The  regular  time  was  two  days  after  Michaelmas, 
every  two  years,  but  in  urgent  cases  the  king  could 
summon  the  imperial  diet  earlier  and  at  other  places. 
Its  duration  in  that  case  was  only  fourteen  days  instead 
of  six  weeks.  In  no  case  could  this  time  be  shortened 
or  lengthened,  nor  was  it  permitted  to  deliberate  at 
night  time. 

On  the  first  day  the  marshal  of  the  imperial  diet  was 
elected,  and  the  titles  of  the  provincial  deputies  were 
examined.  Then,  under  the  direction  of  the  marshal, 
followed  the  reception  of  the  king  by  the  provincial 
deputies  at  which  the  pacta  conventa  was  read  aloud. 
Then  the  propositions  by  the  throne  were  presented. 
The  senators  voted  upon  the  measures  of  the  imperial 
diet  in  the  presence  of  the  provincial  deputies,  in  order 
to  show  them  what  was  beneficial  for  the  state.  The 
administration  of  the  ministers  was  next  investigated, 
and  hereupon  the  provincial  deputies  retired  from  the 
senate,  in  order  to  draw  up  the  laws  of  the  diet,  the 
chief  object  of  which  was  to  be  public  safety. 

The  last  five  days  were  called  the  great  days.  Both 
chambers  united  again,  the  marshal  of  the  imperial 
diet  read  the  laws  of  the  diet  to  which  all  the  provincial 
deputies  had  agreed  before  the  assembled  imperial  diet, 
and  it  was  still  possible  for  anyone  to  exercise  his  veto. 
Only  that  was  legal  which  was  now  adopted  before  all. 


86  Poland. 

It  is  true  that  these  representatives  honoured  their 
inviolability  as  regards,  themselves,  and  did  not  now,  as 
in  former  times,  secure  the  required  unanimity  by  the 
massacre  of  their  opponents.  But  that  evil  had  thus 
become  so  much  the  worse. 

The  deputies,  after  election,  could  never  regard 
themselves  as  men  who  dared  to  attend  to  the  interests 
of  the  country,  to  act  according  to  their  own  conscience 
and  understanding.  They  never  dared  place  the  good 
of  the  country  above  the  advantage  of  their  province. 
They  received  from  the  province  full  and  definite 
instruction  as  to  what  they  should  demand  and  concede, 
and  upon  their  return,  in  the  petty  diets  legally  estab- 
lished in  the  year  1589,  they  were  placed  in  a  most 
responsible  position  towards  their  constituents.  It  is 
natural  that  an  assembly  of  four  hundred  men,  each  of 
whom  was  a  member  of  a  complete  corporation,  could 
be  far  less  yielding  than  if  each  represented  only  his 
own  personal  rights.  If  stubborn  opposition  at  the  im- 
perial diet  formerly  exposed  the  bold  man  to  the  danger 
of  being  killed,  compliance  now  meant  the  same,  for 
yielding  would  cost  the  deputy  his  life  at  the  hands  of 
those  whose  authority  he  had  transgressed.  The  same 
necessity  which  once  enforced  compliance  and  was  the 
only  check  upon  anarchy  became  at  present  a  reason 
for  not  yielding  under  any  pressure. 

In  vain  the  kings  opposed  this  disorder  with  patience, 
persuasion,  persistency,  and  bravery.  When  King 
Wladislaus  was  unwilling  under  any  circumstances  to 
dissolve  an  imperial  diet  before  it  drew  up  a  resolution, 
though  it,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not  allowed  to  con- 
tinue the  deliberations  at  night,  they  concluded  to  spend 
the  night  together,  and  the  world  witnessed  the 
spectacle  of  a  sleeping  diet  under  the  presidency  of  a 
sleeping  senate,  and  of  a  king  asleep  on  his  throne. 

There  was  yet  one  step  to  take  in  order  to  make  this 
agreement  impossible  and  to  organize  the  anarchy 
formally.     It  was  taken  when  a  few  palatines  charged 


Poland.  87 

their  plenipotentiaries  to  oppose  all  consultations 
until  their  own  proposals  had  been  heard  and  adopted. 
When  it  happened  that  several  deputies  came  with 
the  same  instructions,  the  imperial  diet  was  broken 
up  before  it  was  opened.1 

Other  deputies  refused  to  give  their  consent  to  any 
propositions,  unless  those  offered  by  their  woiwodeships 
were  also  accepted,  and  thus  the  veto  of  one  deputy  in 
a  single  transaction  could  bring  about  the  dissolution 
of  the  whole  imperial  diet,  that  is,  he  suspended  all 
exercise  of  sovereignty  for  two  years.  The  veto  of  one 
deputy  was  the  magic  word  which,  though  hardly 
uttered,  caused  the  republic  to  sink  back  in  a  deathlike 
sleep.  No  law  could  be  enacted,  no  resolution  adopted, 
the  army  remained  unpaid,  the  enemy  devastated  some 
provinces  without  the  others  coming  to  their  aid,  justice 
was  delayed,  money  matters  were  in  confusion,  in  short, 
Poland  was  stricken  from  the  list  of  states  for  the  next 
two  years. 

And  the  rupture  of  an  imperial  diet  was  regarded  as 
a  public  calamity  as  often  as  it  was  repeated.  The 
name  of  the  deputy  who  caused  it,  as  well  as  that  of 
his  family,  was  handed  down  to  posterity  as  a  curse. 
In  order  to  insure  themselves  against  the  general 
indignation,  such  deputies  were  accustomed  to  submit 
their  protests  in  writing,  and  then,  under  burden  of 
general  detestation  and  overwhelmed  by  the  curse  of 
the  nation,  they  roved  about  for  years  at  a  time,  un- 
settled and  unknown.  Yet  they  proceeded  still  further 
in  the  art  of  making  fruitless  the  endeavours  of  all  up- 
right patriots.  In  the  year  1652,  the  voluntary  absence 
of  a  member  was  declared  to  be  sufficient  cause  for  the 
dissolution  of  the  imperial  diet. 

Added   to  all  this  harm  were   finally  the   religious 

1  In  the  years  1G95,  1698,  1701,  1720,  1729,  1730,  1732,  1750, 
1754,  1760,  1761,  and  1762,  the  imperial  diets  were  broken  up 
before  the  election  of  the  marshal ;  that  is,  in  sixty-seven  years, 
twelve  diets. 


88  Poland. 

differences,  which  were  necessarily  dangerous  in  a 
country  so  full  of  fermentation.  For  a  long  time 
Poland  surpassed  all  the  rest  of  Europe  in  toleration. 
Also  after  the  great  division  in  the  Church,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  everything  continued  to  be  quiet  in 
Poland.  Inter  nos  dissidemus,  said  both  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  and  both  parties  were  dissenters.  It  was 
not  until  after  Jesuits  and  foreign  emissaries  had 
kindled  the  flame  of  religious  discord,  that  this  name 
designated  the  Protestants  alone.  Poland,  which  was 
so  accustomed  to  violent  insurrections  since  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  minority  was  so  important,  and  which 
always  furnished  new  causes  for  dispute  and  division  in 
the  many  and  necessary  conventions  of  the  nobility, 
this  same  Poland  was  obliged  to  suffer  terrible  convul- 
sions because  of  the  new  rupture  among  its  own 
nobility.  Now  for  the  first  time  the  imperial  diets 
became  useless.  In  the  thirty-six  years  between  1536 
and  1572,  seven  diets  were  dissolved,  and  under  King 
Augustus  III.  the  nation  convened  in  vain  for  thirty 
years. 

The  dissenters  became  a  dangerous  wound  to  the 
state ;  although  their  number  was  comparatively  very 
small,  yet  subsequently  they  furnished  a  pernicious 
excuse  and  basis  for  foreign  interference. 

In  reviewing  the  causes  which  led  to  the  downfall  of 
the  republic,  we  must  not  pass  over  the  condition  of 
the  peasant,  who  vanishes  from  the  history  of  Poland  at 
an  early  date. 

When  the  Polish  nobleman  or  his  historians  declare 
that  the  peasant  was  from  earliest  times  subject  to  his 
landlord  by  right  of  legacy  and  possession,  or  was 
wholly  a  serf,  it  is  false,  and  may  be  proved  to  be  so. 
This  relation  of  eleven  million  men  to  not  even  a  half 
million  lords  is  an  abuse  of  two  hundred  years,  but 
was  preceded  by  one  thousand  years  of  wretchedness.1 

1  v.  Griivenitz,   Der  Baiter  in  Polen.       The  following  extracts 


Poland.  89 

Originally  the  noble  had  no  jurisdiction  at  all  over 
the  peasant ;  this  power  was  exercised  by  the  royal 
castellans  and  was  granted  to  certain  individual  noble- 
men only,  exceptionally,  for  some  distinguished 
services.1 

The  inheritance  of  a  peasant,  though  dying  without 
issue,  passed  to  his  relations  without  a  grant  of  leave 
from  the  authorities.2  If  a  peasant  left  the  farm 
illegally,  it  could  not  be  given  over  to  another  until  the 
fugitive  had  been  summoned  three  or  four  times  to 
return,  and  in  consideration  of  a  land-tax  of  two 
groschen  pro  Lahn  the  peasant  was  free  from  all  further 
public  taxes,  supplies,  relays,  etc.3 

These  enactments  of  Casimir  the  Great,  the  Henry 
IV.  of  Poland,  won  for  him  the  noble  nickname  of  the 
"Peasant  King." 

Those  peasants  were  free  who  were  land-owners, 
according  to  German  law,  they  did  not  serve  in  socage, 
but  paid  rent.  The  imperial  diet  at  Thorn,  however, 
in  the  year  1520,  regulated  the  services  for  the  Polish 
peasant  on  this  plan,  that  from  each  Laneo  he  should 
pay  weekly  one  day's  work  with  horses.  The  Laneo 
or  Lahn  is  by  correct  reckoning  equal  to  at  least  a  hide 
of  land  of  thirty  Magdeburg  acres  which,  according  to 
the  old  Polish  trefallow  system,  yields  on  an  average 
ten  Berlin  bushels  of  winter  seed.  This  established 
the  obligation  of  fifty-two  days'  work  with  horses  per 
year,  still  leaving  the  peasant,  according  to  approxi- 
mately correct  calculation  and  expert  valuation,  the 
half  of  the  produce  of  his  estate.  The  tithes  were  con- 
vertible into  an  equivalent  payment  of  seed  or  money. 

from  records  are  also  taken  from  this  excellent  little  article,  which  we 
cite  on  account  of  the  importance  of  the  suhject,  without  claiming, 
however,  that  we  have  derived  them  from  these  sources  themselves. 

1  Donation  records  of  the  monastery  of  Tyratz,  128G,  and  other 
places.     Boleslaw  grants  the  Kusczyn  jurisdiction  1252. 

2  Statute,  Casimir  the  Great,  1347. 

3  Statute  of  Wladislaus  Jagello,  1420  and  1433. 


90  Poland. 

As  regards  the  personal  condition  of  the  peasant,  it 
may  be  said  that  according  to  German  law,  only  the 
landed  ones  were  free,  and  such  as  had  hitherto  culti- 
vated and  occupied  waste  lands.1  It  was  owing  to  the 
great  land-owners'  need  of  labour,  that  the  rest  of  the 
peasants  were  bound  to  the  soil  and  could  not  leave  the 
estate  without  the  lord's  permission.  But  the  peasant 
never  belonged  to  his  landlord,  he  could  not  be  sold. 
The  property  could  pass  into  other  hands,  but  the 
peasant  did  not  have  to  leave  his  farm.  That  there 
never  was  a  true  servitude  is  principally  based  upon 
his  ability  to  possess  land  and  soil. 

But  even  the  bondage  to  the  soil  was  lightened  by 
the  Polish  laws.2  Two  families  could  move  annually 
and  without  hindrance  from  each  village,  the  father  of 
several  sons  could  allot  one  to  service  abroad,  and  arts 
and  sciences  were  declared  free.3  There  were  indeed 
conditions  where  all  subjects  were  free  to  move, 
namely,  when  secular  or  ecclesiastical  punishments  of 
the  power  in  authority  fell  upon  the  community  also, 
or  when  a  female  subject  was  violated. 

The  provincial  police  law  of  John  Albert,  in  the 
year  1496,  speaks  plainly  regarding  the  condition  of 
the  peasant.  "  He  trespasses  his  bounds,"  it  states, 
"  he  indulges  in  extra  vacant  clothes  and  lives  hi  orb, 
and  he  causes  himself  to  be  arrested  for  debt  by  the 
town  people."  It  defines  in  this  reference  how  in  the 
future  the  citizen  is  not  to  evade  the  tribunal  of  the 
peasants,  but  to  bring  his  actions  there.  Therefore  the 
peasant  was  prosperous,  he  could  involve  his  own 
possessions  in  debt,  and  had  a  systematized  administra- 
tion of  justice. 

If  we  summarize  how  the  law  and  justice  of  that 
date  fixed  the  condition  of  the  peasant,  we  find  that  he 
had    possession   of    house,  farm   and    field,    that    his 

1  Statute  of  Jagello,  1420. 

2  Strzetusky  prawo  polityczne  narodu  polskiego. 

3  Statute  of  Alexander,  1501. 


Poland.  91 

bondage  to  the  soil  was  humanely  limited,  that  he  Avas 
liable  to  fairly  apportioned  services,  moderate  state  and 
church  taxation. 

But  this  happy  condition  of  the  peasant  ended  when 
the  nobility,  at  the  cost  of  the  crown  and  the 
peasantry,  began  to  extend  its  ever  growing  and 
powerful  influence  upon  the  extinction  of  the  Jagellons. 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  Polish  peasant  enjoyed  such 
liberties 1  at  a  time  when  bondage  extended  over  all  the 
rest  of  Europe,  and  that  his  servitude  began  when  it 
ceased  in  other  countries.  For  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  bondage  had  disappeared  in 
Germany  (except  in  the  provinces  of  Mecklenburg, 
Pommerania,  Lausetia,  etc.,  formerly  Sclavonic).  In 
France  Louis  X.  abolished  it  in  1315  ;  in  England 
Elizabeth  was  still  giving  serfs  their  freedom ;  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia  serfdom  existed  in  the  year 
1781,  till  the  time  of  Joseph  II.  ;  in  Poland  it  first 
began  with  the  sixteenth  century.  The  kings  were 
made  to  promise  that  they  would  no  longer  grant  any 
peasants  letters  of  protection  against  their  masters.2 
For  the  future  all  masters  had  the  right  to  punish  dis- 
obedient subjects  according  to  their  own  best  judg- 
ment.3 Also  the  axiom,  "  Air  gives  possession,"  was 
extended  to  all  foreigners  who  resided  one  year  in  a 
village.4  And  thus,  without  abolishing  any  of  the  laws 
which  were  in  favour  of  the  peasant,  it  was  enacted  as 
a  fundamental  law  of  the  constitution,  "That  hence- 
forth  the    peasant   should   not   have  any   legal   hear- 

1  I1.  J.  Jekel  is  inclined  to  assume  that  there  was  a  state  of 
bondage  in  Poland  before  the  eleventh  century,  yet  he  himself  con- 
fesses that  history  gives  us  no  satisfactory  answer  to  the  questions, 
"  What  were  really  the  peasants  ?  To  what  were  they  bound  ? 
Under  what  laws  did  they  live  ?  "  Polens  Staatsveruwhning,  3  part, 
page  87.  It  is  enough,  then,  that  history,  as  far  as  it  reaches,  shows 
us  no  slaves,  but  only  r/lebce  adscripti. 

2  1505,  Alexander  ;  1543,  Sigismund  I. ;  1588,  Sigismund  III. 

3  Fourth  Article  of  the  Religious  Union  of  1515. 

4  Statute  of  1633. 


92  Poland. 

ing  against  his  lord  in  any  secular  court  on  earth,  be 
his  complaint  concerning  property,  honour  or  life." 

The  peasant  was  thus  exposed  to  an  arbitrariness 
which  had  no  more  limitation  than  that  which  excess 
of  evil  imposes  on  evil.  Every  nobleman  was  an 
absolute  despot  on  his  own  estate ;  the  peasant  had  no 
support  on  earth  to  hope  for  except  the  grace  of  his  lord 
or  his  own  despair.  Thence  arose  the  terrible  revolt 
of  the  peasantry  which  now  made  the  nobility  tremble 
with  fear.  This  too  was  the  cause  of  the  great  de- 
terioration of  landed  property,  and  the  drying  up  of 
those  very  fountains  from  which  the  nation  had  drawn 
its  prosperity  and  its  strength. 

How  extreme  became  the  misery  of  the  Polish 
peasantry,  one  learns  from  such  decisions  as  those  of 
the  statutes  of  the  imperial  diet  of  1768,  articles  18 
and  19,  according  to  which  "the  full  power  and  pro- 
prietorship of  the  nobles  over  land  and  people  are  to 
be  maintained  in  their  entirety,  but  right  over  the  life 
and  death  of  the  peasants  is  no  longer  to  rest  in  the 
hands  of  the  lords."  In  the  year  1791  it  had  to  be 
enacted  for  the  first  time  that  "  if  from  this  time  on 
landlords  agree  with  their  serfs  upon  a  legal  matter  in 
proper  form,  this  action  shall  establish  a  contract  and 
shall  be  valid." 

If  we  inquire  of  Polish  contemporary  historians1 
concerning  the  condition  of  the  peasants,  we  hear 
"  that  the  jDeasant  lived  without  rights  and  judge, 
without  law  and  king,  that  he  was  forced  to  labour 
Sundays  and  holy  days,  since  in  many  places  every 
hide  of  land  was  taxed  with  five  workdays  with 
horses." 2  This  disproportion  of  service  sometimes 
made  it  almost  impossible  to  find  a  rule  for  adjust- 
ment.     The    peasant3  was   regarded  as  a  non-entity, 

1  It  is  necessary  to  cite  these  in  order  not  to  be  charged  with 
exaggeration. 

2  Warszewicki. 

3  Nicolaus  Zalaczewski. 


Poland.  93 

he  could  not  appear  in  court  without  the  consent  of 
his  lord,  therefore  he  had  no  judge  to  oppose  his 
lord.  Once  there  were  ordinances  enacted  for  his 
welfare,  but  they  had  long  been  forgotten.  No- 
where did  the  peasant  find  law  against  oppression. 
Long  was  the  landlord  lord  over  life  and  death.1 
Poland  is  the  only  country  where  the  common  people 
are  stripped  of  all  rights  of  human  beings.2 

Notwithstanding  this,  a  middle-class  had  never  been 
formed  in  Poland  to  bridge  over  the  terrible  gulf 
yawning  between  lord  and  serf,  between  nobleman 
and  peasant.  Industry  and  commerce3  were  unable 
to  nourish  there  where  the  government  was  not  able  to 
give  it  encouragement  nor  protection,  where  arbitrary 
and  violent  attacks  endangered  the  safety  of  property 
and  credit,  which  latter,  before  all  things,  is  necessary  to 
trade. 

This  is  the  only  explanation  why  a  country  could 
continue  to  be  poor  which  had  thirteen  thousand 
square  miles  of  territory  and  eleven  and  a  half  millions 
of  inhabitants,  which  was  watered  by  great  navigable 
rivers  leading  both  to  the  Black  and  Baltic  Seas,  which 
possessed  abundance  of  corn,  wheat,  wax,  honey,  hops, 
fish,  furs,  numerous  herds  of  the  finest  cattle,  the  most 
excellent  horses,  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  salt,  and 
immense  supplies  of  timber  for  ships  and  houses. 

From  all  this  wealth  domestic  industry  did  not  know 
how  to  produce  anything  but  coarse  linen,  sail-cloth, 
rope,  potash,  and  ship  timber ;  all  other  productions 
were  wrought  outside  of  the  country. 

Only  a  seventh  part  of  the  land  was  cultivated, 
and  if,  in  spite  of  this,  Poland  exported  considerable 
corn,  and  cattle  for  slaughter,  this  was  only  possible 
because   the   great   part  of  the  nation,  the  oppressed 

1  Vincent  Rozituski. 

2  King  Stanislaus  Leszczynski,  Observations  sur  le  gouv.  de 
Pologne,  liv.  c.  p.  9. 

3  J.  Jekel,  Polens  Handelsgeschichte.     Wien,  1809. 


94  Poland. 

peasantry,  had  to  deprive  itself  of  such  products,  had 
to  live  poorly  upon  bread,  just  as  to-day  upon  potatoes, 
having  meat  to  eat  barely  three  times  in  the  year,  and 
because  this  manner  of  life  reduced  the  number  of 
men. 

All  other  exportations  were  unimportant,  and  not  at 
all  proportional  to  the  expensive  luxuries  which,  not- 
withstanding all  the  laws  against  luxury,  were  more 
and  more  demanded  and  imported. 

The  lead  mines  at  Olkusz  were  all  in  rains,  and  even 
the  inexhaustible  supplies  of  rock-salt  at  Wieliczka  and 
JBochnia  and  the  salt-springs  of  Red  Russia  were 
neglected  to  such  an  extent  that  not  only  this  rich  pro- 
duct was  not  exported,  but  the  whole  province  of 
Prussia  had  to  be  supplied  with  foreign  sea-salt,  at  an 
enormous  loss  to  the  crown. 

The  balance  of  trade  consequently  gave  a  profit  to  all 
the  nations  that  had  business  relations  with  Poland, 
and  at  a  great  loss  to  the  latter  country. 

In  the  year  1777  1  imports  amounted  to  47,488,876 
Polish  florins  ;  exports  amounted  to  29,839,238  Polish 
florins.  Therefore  in  this  year  the  imports  exceeded 
the  exports  by  17,649,629  florins.  Of  these  Prussia 
gained  over  five  millions,  Austria  almost  eleven,  Russia 
and  Turkey  one  and  a  half. 

In  the  year  1776  the  imports  were  48,640,679  florins, 
the  exports  were  22,096,360  florins.  The  difference 
amounted  to  26,544,380  florins  for  this  one  vear.  The 
money  which  was  still  in  circulation  was  derived 
principally  from  the  sale  of  the  crown. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  internal  resources,  the 
treasury  of  many  a  European  city  surpassed  that  of  the 
republic,  and,  indeed,  two  or  three  Amsterdam  or 
London  merchants  derived  a  greater  income  from  trade 
than  the  domains  of  the  king  produced.     In  the  midst 

1  J.  Jekel,  Polens  Handelsgeschichte,  Part  II.,  p.  87.  The  more 
exact  expenses. 


Poland.  95 

of  its  wealth,  the  wealth  which  nature  had  generously 
bestowed  upon  it,  Poland  was  poor.  The  abundance  of 
its  produce  was  of  no  aid  to  it,  it  had  no  highways  by 
which  to  carry  it  away,  no  ships  to  transport  it,  nor 
factories  to  work  it  up,  nor  trade  to  make  use  of  it. 

The  whole  commercial  history  of  Poland  is  almost 
entirely  comprised  in  the  history  of  the  city  of  Danzig. 

When  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  most  important 
cities  of  Germany  came  together,  in  order  to  protect 
themselves  mutually  against  despotism  and  the  attacks 
which  they  were  unable  to  oppose  single-handed,  in 
order  to  open  avenues  for  themselves  which  a  hundred 
castles  of  robber-knights  and  countless  toll-gates 
barricaded,  and  in  order  to  uphold  laws  among  them- 
selves which  princes  were  not  able  to  grant  them,  when, 
in  a  word,  the  Hanseatic  League  was  formed  which 
ruled  the  commerce  upon  two  great  seas  with  un- 
limited power  for  whole  centuries,  Danzig  was  soon 
compelled  to  recognize  the  immeasurable  advantages 
which  would  accrue  to  it  from  a  union  with  this  league. 

The  inhabitants  of  Danzig  were  of  German  origin, 
they  were  governed  by  German  laws  (the  saxonlage) 
and  by  their  own  constitution.  For  a  long  time  they 
were  subject  to  the  Order  of  Teutonic  Knights,  and 
when  they  afterwards  acknowledged  the  supremacy 
of  the  republic  they  kept  themselves,  nevertheless,  as 
remote  and  independent  as  possible.  The  citizens  of 
Danzig  fortified  the  city  at  their  own  costs  and  upon 
their  own  responsibility,  also  by  their  own  forces 
they  defended  their  independence  not  only  against 
foreigners,  but  also  against  Poland.1  They  refused  the 
Russians  entrance  into  their  walls  when  Poland  no 
longer  dared  to  resist  this  foe. 

After  the  republic  had  lost  the  Black  Sea,  Danzig 
was  the  last  and  soon  the  only  port  by  which  Poland 

1  In  the  year  1576,  against  Stephan  Batory,  in  1733,  against 
Augustus  II.,  etc. 


96  Poland. 

had  intercourse  with  the  outer  world,  and  it  attained 
to  a  very  high  degree  of  prosperity  and  importance. 

When  the  royal  cities  in  Poland  received  the  Magde- 
burg Law,  a  number  of  industrious  foreigners  immi- 
grated into  Poland  and  would  have  speedily  introduced 
industries  and  commerce.  Moreover,  Thorn,  Culm, 
Elbing,  Konigsberg,  Braunsberg,  and  Krakow  joined 
the  Hanseatic  League.  Since,  however,  these  cities 
did  not  know  how  to  preserve  their  independence,  they 
yielded  to  the  power  of  the  nobility,  which  was  con- 
tinually being  increased,  and  the  descendants  of  those 
foreign  immigrants  led  a  very  miserable,  poverty- 
stricken  existence. 

All  the  other  cities  were  desolate  and  without  walls, 
for  they  contained  nothing  but  want.  Their  inhabit- 
ants were  farmers,  and  one  would  hardly  have  ventured 
to  seek  the  commonest  of  all  mechanics  among  them. 

For  whatever  was  not  noble  lived  in  the  cities  as 
objects  to  be  despised,  or  dwelt  oppressed  in  the  villages, 
and  there  was  really  no  citizen  class  in  Poland. 

All  the  rest  of  the  business  of  Poland  was  completely 
ruined.  The  merchant  could  not  gain  anything  from 
the  peasant  who  himself  had  literally  nothing.  Like- 
wise there  was  little  to  be  gained  from  the  nobleman. 
The  rich  and  influential,  that  is,  those  who  could  have 
traded  most  with  the  merchants,  received  their  wine 
and  luxuries  duty-free  in  return  for  the  wood,  grain, 
etc.,  which  they  sent  to  Danzig.  How  could  merchants 
sell  or  buy  profitably  in  a  country  where  the  most 
affluent  class  of  citizens  imported  or  exported  the 
very  same  articles  duty-free  on  which  the  merchants  in 
either  case  were  compelled  to  pay  duties  at  public  and 
private  custom  houses  ?  Finally,  the  wretched  con- 
dition of  the  laws,  especially  the  difficulty  in  executing 
them,  made  it  almost  impossible  to  give  anyone  credit. 
It  was  also  impossible  to  get  a  noble  as  a  partner,  for 
trade  was  followed  by  the  loss  of  nobility.  At  first 
Poland  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  commission  trade  by 


Poland.  97 

buying  up  at  Breslau,  Leipzig,  and  Danzig,  wares  in- 
dispensable to  the  Russians  and  transporting  them  by- 
land.  But  after  Peter  the  Great  opened  up  to  his 
nation  the  Baltic  and  Black  Seas  this  branch  of  trade 
also  disappeared. 

The  Jews  should  be  thanked  for  the  little  business 
that  was  still  left  in  Poland. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  people,  so  frugal  and 
anxious  for  its  maintenance,  formed  the  only  well-to-do 
class  in  the  country.  All  the  business  activity  which 
carelessness  or  pride  made  the  nobleman  despise,  and 
which  the  stupidity,  the  ignorance,  and  the  oppressed 
state  of  the  peasant  made  inaccessible  to  him  fell  to  the 
lot  of  the  Jews,  who,  if  they  became  later  a  national 
misfortune,  were  simultaneously  a  national  necessity ; 
first,  as  the  result  of  the  bad  measures  of  the  govern- 
ment, for  it  was  everywhere  an  easier  thing  to  burn  the 
Jews  than  to  make  good  citizens  of  them;  second, 
because  they  hated  the  Jews  and  envied  them  of  their 
riches,  without  imitating  the  industry  by  which  the 
Jews  had  acquired  the  same. 

We  must x  glance  at  this  remarkable  people,  little 
understood  and  yet  so  important,  which,  banished  from 
its  home,  has  continued  to  grow  and  has  gradually 
made  its  way  into  other  countries  until  it  has 
encircled  the  globe,  just  as  ivy-vines  do  the  trunk  of  a 
tree  on  which  and  upon  which  they  continue  to  live 
even  when  their  roots  are  torn  from  the  soil  they  first 
sprang  from.  Trodden  down  at  all  ages  by  despotism 
and  violence,  we  find  this  nation  ever  springing  up 
again  by  means  of  craft  and  perseverance.  Persecuted 
and  extirpated  by  fire  and  sword,  we  behold  it  return- 
ing once  again  or  being  replaced  by  others.  Robbed 
and  despoiled  repeatedly,  it  is  ever  possessed  of  all 
wealth. 


1  Tableau    de   Pologne   ancienne   et   moderne  par   Malte    Burn, 
refondu  par  Leonard  Chodzko.     Paris,  1830. 

VOL.   I.  H 


98  Poland. 

With  a  wonderful  fusion  of  external  weakness  and 
hidden  strength,  humble  and  prostrate  before  the  more 
powerful,  imperious  and  cruel  towards  dependents,  this 
people,  oppressed  and  abused  as  a  whole,  exercises 
through  certain  members  a  kind  of  individual  tyranny 
over  its  oppressors.  For  just  as  man  in  his  degrada- 
tion still  preserves  a  memory  of  innate  nobleness  and  a 
sense  of  his  oppression,  so  the  Jew  also  resists  violence 
and  enmity  with  hatred  and  contempt,  feelings  which 
must  be  rooted  much  the  deeper  in  him  the  more 
cautiously  he  has  been  forced  to  conceal  these  feelings 
in  himself. 

Notwithstanding  their  dispersion,  the  Jews  are 
closely  bound  together.  By  an  unknown  supremacy 
they  are  consistently  guided  to  common  aims.  After 
residing  a  thousand  years  in  one  country  they  behold 
themselves  as  strangers  there,  they  regard  the  soil  on 
which  they  are  born  not  as  their  own  home  :  the  people 
with  whom  they  have  grown  up,  as  their  constant 
foe.  Since  they  refuse  all  attempts  of  governments  to 
nationalize  them,  the  Jews  form  a  state  in  the  state,  and 
in  Poland  to  this  very  day  they  are  a  deep  and  unhealed 
Avound  in  the  country. 

The  political  standing  of  the  Jews,  as  well  as  their 
own  laws,  excludes  them  from  possessing  land,  from 
political  service,  from  offices,  dignities,  in  short  from  all 
public  enterprise.  With  them  the  national  welfare 
could  never  be  the  goal  of  talent,  knowledge,  or  industry. 
For  them  love  of  country,  ambition,  enterprise,  in  short, 
all  the  mighty  forces  which  elevate  the  career  of  man 
had  no  room  to  be  developed  in.  Repulsed  on  all  sides 
with  contempt,  the  Jew  was  thrown  upon  his  own 
resources,  and  self  was  and  had  to  be  his  only  object  of 
consideration. 

The  highest  point  to  which  the  Jew  could  attain  in 
his  own  land  was  that  of  becoming  a  rich  man.  But 
wealth  itself  procured  for  him  no  greater  civil  respect, 
it  did  not  protect  him  against  the  insult  of  open  hate 


Poland.  99 

and  detestation,  and  the  Jew  had  to  conceal  his  wealth 
or  enjoy  it  at  his  own  danger. 

Even  gold  was  no  longer  a  source  of  happiness  to  the 
Jew,  and  so  it  became  merely  an  end  in  itself.  Wealth 
was  the  only  aim  for  all  the  efforts  of  each  individual, 
and  all  avenues  leading  to  this  goal,  this  only  goal,  were 
legitimate  in  his  opinion,  and  at  the  same  time  were  a 
means  of  vengeance  on  his  oppressors.  Brooking  every 
mortification,  enduring  every  insult,  ever  abstinent, 
frugal,  and  penurious,  availing  themselves  of  every 
advantage,  not  disdaining  fraud,  usury,  and  perjury, 
was  it  indeed  a  wonder  that  all  the  wealth  flowed  into 
the  hands  of  these  immigrants,  and  that  the  oppressors 
gradually  became  dependent  upon  the  despised 
strangers  ? 

The  first  Jewish  settlers  were  exiles  from  Germany 
and  Bohemia.1  They  fled  to  Poland  about  the  year 
1096,  where  at  that  time  reigned  much  greater  toler- 
ance than  in  all  the  rest  of  Europe. 

This  emigration  of  the  Jews  was  a  result  of  the 
cruelty  and  covetousness  of  the  first  crusaders.  They 
maintained  that  the  Jews  were  the  natural,  native 
enemies  of  Christ.  In  Mayence  alone  fourteen  hundred 
Jews  were  burned.  In  Bavaria  twelve  thousand  were 
sacrificed.  Women  killed  their  children,  and  men 
killed  themselves,  in  order  to  escape  baptism  and  the 
baptisers.  All  the  Jews  emigrated  from  Bohemia. 
They  were  forced  to  leave  all  their  property  behind,  for 
"  since  they  had  brought  no  riches  from  Judea  with  them 
they  must  depart  from  Bohemia  poor  as  they  had 
entered  it." 

The  love  of  Casimir  the  Great  for  the  beautiful 
Esther,  a  Jewess  from  Opoczno,  procured  for  the 
Israelites  a  few  civil  privileges  and  liberties,  such  as  a 
king  in  Poland  could   confer,    and  which    should   be 

1  Compare  Leonard  Chodzko's  edition  of  the  Tableau  tie  Poloyne  par 
Molte  Brun. 

H  2 


ioo  Poland. 

advantageous  to  the  country ;  but  as  early  as  the  reign 
of  Louis  of  Hungary,  1371,  they  were  totally  banished 
from  the  country.  Yet,  in  the  year  1386,  we  find  them 
again  scattered  all  over  Poland.  The  Christians  at  that 
time  were  forbidden,  on  pain  of  excommunication,  to 
have  any  intercourse  with  Jews,  or  to  buy  from  them. 
In  all  cities  where  they  settled,  they  were  compelled  to 
live  together  in  particular  suburbs.  Usury  was  for- 
bidden, and  John  Albert  suddenly  destroyed  all  the 
registers  of  mortgages  by  means  of  which  they  were 
about  to  acquire  the  greater  part  of  the  estates  of  the 
nobility,  these  having  been  mortgaged  for  the  payment 
of  the  armaments  for  war.  Yet  the  loan  was  said  to 
have  been  repaid  with  legal  interest. 

The  Privilegium  of  Boleslaw  the  Pious,  15051  is  very 
characteristic.  It  shows  that  the  kings  were  forced  to 
protect  the  Jews  from  the  general  hatred  and  oppression  of 
the  Christians.  Among  other  things  it  states  :  "  Corpses 
of  Jews  can  be  carried  away  without  duty.  For  desecra- 
tion of  a  synagogue  the  Christian  shall  pay  the  woiwode 
a  fine  of  two  stones  of  pepper.  No  one  shall  put  up  at  a 
Jewish  house.  It  is  false  that  Jews  use  human  blood. 
If  a  Jew  is  charged  with  having  kidnapped  a  Christian 
child,  he  must  be  convicted  by  three  Christian,  and 
three  Jewish  witnesses.  If  he  is  not  convicted  the 
accuser  shall  suffer  the  penalty  which  the  Jew  would 
have  had  to  suffer.  If  a  Jew  is  maltreated  at  night 
time,  and  cries  for  help,  Christians  are  bound  under 
penalty  to  render  him  assistance,"  etc. 

Many  a  decree  of  the  diet,  many  a  law,  Avhich  would 
have  ruined  their  business  completely,  many  a  storm 
stirred  up  by  fanatical  priests  against  them,  the  Jews 
knew  how  to  conjure  away  by  the  power  of  their  gold 
(Miczynski  says  by  their  "  magic").  This  guaranteed 
them  high  patrons  at  all  times.  A  few  writers  declared, 
on  the  contrary,  "  God  blesses  those  who  persecute  the 

1  Compare  Jekel,  Polens  Staatsveranderung,  2  part. 


Poland.  ioi 

Jews,"  and  they  mentioned  several  Polish  families  as 
proofs.1 

In  consequence  of  the  inferior  external  condition  of 
the  Jews,  they  assumed  in  their  writings  a  daring 
ascendency  over  the  Christians.  Just  as  the  Russian 
Jews  had  once  attempted  to  convert  Wladimir  the 
Great  to  Judaism,  so  the  Polish  Jews  published  an 
immense  number  of  articles  in  which  they  ridiculed 
the  ritual  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  invited  the  Poles 
to  submit  to  the  law  of  Moses,  believing  that  this 
country  would  become  a  second  Idumsea.  Emboldened 
by  the  extension  of  their  alliances,  and  by  the  greatness 
of  their  wealth,  they  are  said  to  have  been  always  in 
league  with  the  Turks  in  order  to  obtain  their  assistance 
in  subduing  the  Poles.2 

According  to  the  statement  of  the  Jews  themselves, 
there  were,  in  the  year  1540,  only  500  Christian  against 
3200  Jewish  merchants,  and  9600  Jewish  goldsmiths, 
and  other  manufacturers  in  the  country.  The  wealthy 
JeAvs  had  begun  to  dress  like  the  Polish  nobles,  they 
even  surpassed  them  in  magnificence.  Characteristic 
in  this  connection  is  a  decree  of  King  Sigismund,  L, 
which  forbade  them  to  wear  golden  chains,  armorial 
rings  and  sabres  set  with  precious  stones.  The  Jews 
held  their  own  imperial  diets ;  each  province  sent  its 
deputies  to  Warsaw,  where  they  formed  by  themselves 
a  great  council  and  nominated  a  marshal  who  was  con- 
firmed by  the  government.  In  short,  next  to  the  no- 
bility, the  Israelites  were  the  most  affluent  and  power- 
ful body  in  the  country. 

1  Ziechowski  states  in  his  Oglos  Processu :  "  since  the  Jew 
Alexander  did  not  confess  infanticide  on  the  rack,  his  judges 
should  not  have  been  satisfied  with  burning  him  alone,  they  should 
have  burned  his  shadow  also,  for  it  was  very  possible  that  the  devil, 
out  of  love  for  the  Jew,  had  substituted  a  phantom  on  the  rack  and 
that  the  shadow  was  the  real  Jew."  Even  in  the  year  1783  the 
Bernardine  Monk,  Tyszkowski,  charged  Jewesses  with  witchcraft. 
Jekel,  Polens  Staatweranderung,  1  pt.,  p.  44,  and  3  pt.,  p.  14. 

2  This  was  mentioned  in  the  synods  of  1420  and  1672. 


102  Poland. 

Especially  disquieting  was  the  incredible  increase  of 
these  strangers,  for  it  is  asserted  that  it  was  almost  three 
times  as  rapid  as  that  of  the  native  inhabitants.  Inas- 
much as  the  Jews,  favoured  by  their  wholesome  way  of 
living — and  this  is  required  of  them  by  their  law — knew 
how  to  shirk  all  public  burdens  and  duties,  Sigismund 
Augustus  determined,  despite  their  remonstrances,  to 
levy  a  poll-tax  on  them,  according  to  which  each  in- 
dividual had  to  pay  one  florin,  at  that  time  worth  one- 
and-a-half  dollars.  At  the  same  time  he  intended  in  this 
way  to  ascertain  their  real  number;  It  was  estimated 
then  that  there  were,  at  least,  200,000  souls,  but  by  this 
tax  only  1600  florins  were  collected.1 

The  Jews  gained  still  more  power  under  John 
Sobieski,  to  whom  they  had  formerly  prophesied  that  he 
would  ascend  the  throne.  This  monarch  favoured  the 
JeAvs  so  much  that,  in  the  year  1682,  the  senate 
formally  entreated  him  to  consider  the  welfare  of  the 
state,  and  not  to  let  all  the  favours  of  the  crown  pass 
through  the  hands  of  the  Jews. 

The  laws  prohibiting  the  Jews  from  trading  with  the 
peasants,  from  keeping  inns  and  retailing  brandy — and 
this  prohibition  was  renewed  almost  under  every  new 
government,  and  even  its  transgression  was  punishable 
with  death — show  that  the  Jews  had  not  ceased  to  use 
this  branch  of  business,  so  profitable  to  them  and  so 
ruinous  to  the  peasantry.  The  Jews  never  at  any  time 
regarded  an  oath  to  a  Christian  as  binding.  In  case  of 
a  quarrel  between  one  of  their  number  and  a  Christian, 
they  always  made  it  an  affair  of  their  nation.  If  it  was 
a  matter  for  furthering  some  mutual  interests,  a  general 

1  "Dites-rnoi/'  said  King  Sigismund  to  the  Bishop  of  Cracow,  "vous 
qui  ne  croyez  pas  aux  sorciers,  ou  que  le  diable  puisse  se  meler  de 
nos  affaires,  dites-moi  comment  il  se  fait  que  200,000  Juifs  ont  pu  se 
cacher  sous  terre  pour  ne  paraitre  que  16,598  aujourd'hui  qu'il 
s'agit  de  payer  la  capitation."  "  Votre  Majeste  sait,"  answered  the 
Bishop,  "  que  les  Juifs  n'ont  pas  besoin  du  diable  pour  etres 
sorciers." 


Poland.  103 

fast-day  was  decreed,  and  then  each  person,  under  the 
penalty  of  one  of  the  three  Jewish  curses,1  had  to  remit 
the  cost  of  a  day's  sustenance  for  himself  and  family. 
In  this  way  single  cities  and  provinces  have  often  sup- 
ported others  far  distant  with  large  sums  of  money. 

Until  the  present  time  each  city  has  its  own  judge, 
each  province  its  Rabbi,  and  all  are  subject  to  an  un- 
known head  residing  in  Asia,  who  is  bound  by  the  law 
to  wander  continuously  from  place  to  place,  and  they 
call  him  the  "  prince  of  slavery."  By  thus  preserving 
their  own  government,  religion,  customs,  and  language, 
by  obeying  their  own  laws,  they  know  how  to  avoid 
those  of  the  country  they  dwell  in  or  to  prevent  their 
execution.  Having  thus  become  closely  leagued  to- 
gether, they  reject  all  attempts  that  have  been  made  to 
amalgamate  them  with  the  nation,  both  because  of  their 
religious  faith  and  because  of  their  self-interest. 

We  have  now  considered  the  opposing  elements 
which  combine  to  form  the  state.  There  was  a  power- 
less king  ;  a  powerful  democratic  nobility,  which  itself 
was  divided  because  of  its  interests  and  religious 
opinions  ;  a  middle  class  flourishing  in  the  state  without 
belonging  to  the  state  ;  and  the  peasantry,  forming  the 
mass  of  the  nation,  without  political  or  human  rights, 
and  sunk  to  the  lowest  depths  of  misery. 

But  what  a  picture  of  chaos  does  the  inner  part  of 
this  country  also  present !  In  former  times  Poland  had 
attained  a  certain  height  of  culture,  but  after  that  the 
nobility  had  robbed  the  government  of  all  power,  in 
order  to  preserve  its  own  independence,  after  that  the 
people  themselves  had  taken  away  the  powers  of  juris- 
diction by  legal  procedure,  it  came  to  a  dead  standstill. 
While  for  centuries  all  its  neighbouring  states  continued 
to  progress,  Poland  remained  just  as  many  centuries 
behind. 

It  had  actually  come  to  such  a  pass  that  there  was 

1  Niddony,  Gherern,  and  Sehamatha. 


104  Poland. 

a  cessation  of  legal  exercise  of  all  sovereignty.  The 
mint  had  been  closed  since  the  year  1685,  and  inas- 
much as  Polish  coin  had  a  greater  value  than  that  of 
the  neighbouring  states,  it  had  disappeared  from  circu- 
lation or  was  counterfeited.  In  this  way  the  entire 
Polish  currency  is  said  to  have  been  twice  recoined  out- 
side the  country.  Foreign  coinage,  on  the  other  hand, 
had  an  arbitrary  value.  This  confusion  finally  became 
so  great  that  king  Augustus  II.  ordered  Saxon  money 
to  be  coined  in  Warsaw,  on  his  own  responsibility, 
without  even  being  empowered  by  nation  or  senate  to 
do  so,  for  during  his  long  reign  no  imperial  diet  met 
that  could  have  given  him  authority. 

Thus  absolute  necessity  compelled  not  only  the 
kings,  but  also  all  eminent  government  officers,  to 
appropriate  to  themselves  a  power  not  theirs  by  right 
and  far  overreaching  that  which  an  unlimited 
sovereignty  would  have  bestowed.  Forced  to  violate 
his  powers,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  most  pressing- 
demands,  each  ruled  absolutely  and  without  restraint 
in  his  department,  each  necessarily  exercised  a  power 
over  the  multitude,  which  could  have  brought  him  to 
justice  on  account  of  one  abuse,  and  each  successor  had 
to  seize  anew  upon  this  same  abuse  of  power. 

The  republic  sent  no  ambassadors  to  foreign  courts  ; 
the  country  was  without  defences,  without  a  navy,  it 
was  destitute  of  highways  and  of  military  equipments, 
was  without  a  treasury  and  even  without  a  fixed 
government  revenue.  The  army  was  small,  neglected, 
undisciplined  and  was  often  unpaid,  so  that  the  troops 
were  forced  to  form  a  confederation,  and  to  encamp 
before  the  meetings  of  the  imperial  diet,  in  order  to  add 
to  their  legal  claims  so  illegal  a  weight. 

Outwardly,  therefore,  the  whole  strength  of  the  state 
consisted  in  the  confederation.  But  the  kings,  regard- 
ing with  anxiety  a  power  surpassing  their  own,  always 
sought  to  counteract  these  alliances,  and  to  prevent 
them,  or,  if  they,  in  turn,  formed  the  confederation,  the 


Poland.  105 

nation  was  hindered  by  mistrust  from  joining  it. 
Moreover  the  Polish  nobility,  once  so  valiant,  was 
weakened  and  degenerated  by  luxury  and  wantonness, 
and  this  was  partly  promoted  by  the  government  itself. 
Nearly  all  great  estates  were  overwhelmed  with  debts, 
and  lawsuits.  The  greater  number  of  nobles  had 
neither  weapons  nor  horses,  and  still  formed  only  a 
tumultuous  assembly  without  order,  discipline,  and 
guidance. 

On  the  other  hand,  they  did  not  dare  to  arm  the 
mass  of  the  people  for  the  defence  of  the  fatherland. 
To  the  peasant  who  had  nothing  more  to  lose,  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  the  word,  landlord  and  foe  were  one 
and  the  same  thing.  Every  promise,  every  outlook  to- 
wards improvement,  even  for  a  change  in  oppression, 
was  destined  to  make  the  peasant  a  formidable  enemy 
of  his  lord,  if  the  enemy  granted  him  the  opportunity. 
The  mere  possibility  of  an  insurrection  of  the  peasantry 
accompanied  by  such  cruelties  as  only  the  most  vivid 
imagination  can  picture,  and  such  as  more  than  once 
devastated  great  provinces  of  the  country,  kept  the 
noble  and  his  household  troops  away  from  the  defence 
of  the  republic,  for  who  would  have  dared  to  have  left 
his  house  and  barn,  wife  and  child,  to  the  mercy  of  the 
unbridled  fury  of  the  slaves  ? 

And  thus  Poland  was  internally  held  together  only 
by  usurped  violence,  externally  by  its  very  weakness.1 
For  to  attack  Poland  with  an  army  was  to  wish  to  con- 
quer it,  and  that  had  long  been  prevented  by  the 
mutual  jealousy  of  the  neighbouring  powers. 

The  royal  elections  and  the  religious  disputes  were 
the  joints  through  which  foreign  influence  first 
penetrated  into  the  republic. 

In  1697  an  army  of  10,000  Saxons  procured  for  its 
electoral  prince,  Augustus  II.,  the  crown  of  this 
country,  against  the  will  of  the  greater  part  of  the 

1  Polonia  confusiono  reGfitur. 


106  Poland. 

Polish  nation.  For  this  very  reason,  however,  Augustus 
always  needed  this  army,  in  order  to  defend  his  crown 
against  the  nation. 

While  Poland,  as  we  have  seen  it,  was  too  weak  to 
protect  itself,  however,  it  preferred  to  remain  unarmed 
in  the  midst  of  neighbours  equipped  for  war  rather  than 
to  tolerate  the  army  of  the  king  in  the  country. 
Solicitous  for  the  rights  of  individuals  and  jealous  of 
the  royal  power,  the  imperial  diets  emphatically  urged 
the  removal  of  the  Saxon  troops,  preferring  to  endanger 
the  freedom  of  the  state  rather  than  the  prerogatives  of 
their  body. 

The  king  ivas  unsuccessful  in  the  wars  which  he  now 
waged  in  order  to  be  allowed  to  retain  an  army,  for 
this  alone  assured  him  a  place  of  influence  in  the 
republic.  It  was  Swedish  arms  and  again  not  the  will 
of  the  nation  that  crowned  Stanislaus  Leszczynski,  in 
the  year  1704. 

After  the  misfortunes  of  Charles  XII.,  Augustus 
appeared  again  in  Poland  with  an  army,  in  order  to 
regain  the  throne.  But  when,  now,  this  monarch  desired 
to  accomplish  what  had  been  from  the  first  moment  his 
actual  object,  namely,  the  establishment  of  royal  power 
in  the  state,  the  confederation  opposed  him  so  emphati- 
cally, that  Augustus  was  forced  to  seek  Russian  inter- 
vention and  Russian  protection  in  order  to  support  his 
position,  thus  setting  his  successors  the  destructive 
example  which  caused  the  ruin  of  the  state. 

Augustus  III.  ascended  the  throne  of  his  father,  not 
by  means  of  the  arms  of  a  Saxon  army,  but  under  the 
influence  and  protection  of  Russia ;  and,  in  order  to 
maintain  himself  on  his  throne,  he  became  most  depen- 
dent on  this  state.  But  the  means  of  his  ascension 
were  at  the  same  time  the  instrument  of  his  downfall. 

The  armaments  of  Augustus  II.,  for  the  purpose  of 
gaining  his  throne  twice  by  force,  his  wars,  and  still 
more  his  luxury  and  the  bribes,  by  which  he  began  to 
subjugate   the   nobility   of  the   nation,  when   he  was 


Poland.  107 

unable  to  do  it  with  arms,  finally,  the  limitless  extrava- 
gances of  Augustus  III.  exhausted  all  the  resources  of 
Poland  and  Saxony.  These  rich  territorial  inheritances 
were  also  finally  lost  in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  thus 
Augustus,  once  a  powerful  electoral  prince,  became  the 
weakest  of  all  kings. 

The  demise  of  Augustus  III.  was  the  crisis  which  the 
parties  at  home  and  abroad  had  awaited  in  order  to 
put  in  motion  all  their  strength  and  all  their  plans  for 
their  own  purposes.  Politics,  patriotism,  treason, 
ambition  and  venality,  intrigue  and  force  struggled 
with  one  another  and  aroused  a  fearful  tumult  in  the 
republic. 

During  this  confused  struggle,  let  us  observe  these 
parties  more  closely  which  sought  to  employ  the  new 
royal  election  for  the  improvement  of  the  social  con- 
dition of  their  country. 

Many  Poles,  it  is  true,  regarded  this  as  a  master- 
piece of  statesmanship.  They  gazed  with  pride  on 
individual  rights,  unmindful  that  nine-tenths  of  the 
nation  were  sunk  into  the  lowest  degree  of  servitude 
and  that  even  the  independence  of  the  nobility  was 
far  from  being  freedom.  The  weakness  of  the  state, 
proceeding  from  this  very  thing,  could  not  be  a 
guarantee  for  the  stability  of  the  constitution,  because 
it  gave  no  guarantee  for  the  existence  of  the  state. 
These  men,  always  solicitous  on  account  of  the  misuse 
of  power,  never  saw  the  danger  of  the  misuse  of  liberty, 
and  they  had  to  be  schooled  in  a  long  period  of  mis- 
fortune, in  order  to  be  convinced  that  an  alteration  of 
the  constitution  had  become  inevitable. 

And,  meanwhile,  men  were  not  wanting  who  recog- 
nized grave  mistakes  in  this  constitution. 

"All  our  deliberations,"  said  the  primate  in  his 
address  before  the  convocation  diet,  "  result  in  nothing. 
The  imperial  diets  are  without  result,  and  few  of  us 
dare  boast  of  having  known  a  diet  where  freedom  of 
consultation   was   respected.     We   regard   ourselves  a 


108  Poland. 

nation,  but  we  are  under  the  yoke  of  servitude,  under 
the  terror  of  swords.  We  all  feel  the  misfortune  of 
our  dependence,  but  we  lack  the  wisdom  to  counsel 
for  ourselves,  and  the  strength  to  improve  our  lot, 
nevertheless  we  rush  blindly  to  our  own  destruction. 

"  All  our  sufferings  are  the  results  of  our  own  tran- 
sactions. We  languish  in  the  fetters  of  our  own  fear, 
we  who  have  nothing  upon  which  to  fix  our  hopes, 
neither  the  counsel  of  wisdom  nor  the  support  of 
strength.  We  have  no  fortifications,  for  they  are  all 
in  ruins,  no  garrisons,  for  they  are  weak  and  without 
ammunition,  neither  fixed  boundaries  nor  an  army  to 
defend  them.  Let  us  confess  that  this  kingdom  is  like 
an  open  house,  a  dwelling  devastated  by  storms,  a 
building  without  an  owner  which  would  be  pre- 
cipitated upon  its  shaken  foundations,  did  not  Provi- 
dence still  hold  it  up  ! 

"Let  us  glance  at  abuses  which  surpass  all  belief. 
The  laws,  degenerated  and  dishonoured,  are  un- 
enforced ;  the  tribunals  which  ought  to  judge  crime 
are  suspended ;  perjury  is  tolerated  at  the  expense  of 
the  salvation  of  soul  and  of  country !  Liberty  is 
enthralled  by  violence  and  absolutism ;  the  royal 
treasure  is  squandered  by  the  introduction  of  foreign 
and  debased  monies ;  the  cities  of  the  country — the 
most  beautiful  ornaments  of  a  kingdom — are  depop- 
ulated, and  the  advantages  of  commerce  are  robbed  by 
the  Jews.  In  the  cities  we  must  seek  for  the  city,  so 
deserted  are  the  markets,  the  streets,  and  the  fields. 

"A  period  of  fifty  years  has  wrought  this  trans- 
formation. And  why?  Because  we  live  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  and  of  brotherly  love,  with- 
out concord,  without  confidence,  and  without  probity. 
Let  us  consider  how  we  burden  our  conscience  by  such 
action ;  how  hard  it  is  to  restore  that  which  we 
destroy  ;  how  great  will  be  the  punishment  of  the 
Judge  which  we  bring  upon  our  heads.  Let  us  con- 
sider our  debt   of  responsibility   to    God   and   to  the 


Poland.  109 

country,  when  we  subject  our  provinces  on  the  borders 
to  the  danger  of  being  conquered. 

"  At  the  present  time,  when  our  freedom  surrenders 
itself  to  the  wildest  licentiousness,  unchecked  and  un- 
limited, there  is  nothing  so  necessary  for  it  as  fetters, 
in  order  to  keep  it  from  excesses  which  lead  it  to 
destruction,  to  servitude.  Liberty  like  ours  is  merely 
licentiousness.  Its  pernicious  influence  extends  to 
even  this  assembly,  and  makes  it  necessary  that  we 
should  subject  it  to  rule,  to  law.  This  diet  is  the  place 
where  the  madness  of  freedom  must  be  chained,  which 
leads  to  our  destruction,  which  injures  us  and  oppresses 
us,  which  overturns  our  laws,  hinders  justice  and  des- 
troys public  trust."  l 

Although  such  words  were  merely  an  echo  to  the 
multitude,  or  were  not  esteemed  by  those  who  were 
interested  in  the  continuation  of  the  anarchy,  yet  there 
were  many  intelligent  men  who  were  cognizant  of 
their  truth.  There  was,  on  the  whole,  no  time  when 
Poland  lacked  men  who  were  ready  to  sacrifice  them- 
selves for  the  country ;  and  although  the  decayed, 
thousand-year-old  building  of  the  republic  threatened 
to  bury  under  its  ruins  the  man  who  jolted  it,  yet  this 
did  not  terrify  the  bravest  from  destroying  the  old 
foundations  with  a  hand  of  strength,  and  replacing 
them  by  new  ones. 

But  even  these  attempts  to  introduce  a  better  state 
of  affairs  must  be  termed  the  final  causes  of  the  final 
downfall  of  this  republic. 

Among  the  parties  purposing  to  effect  a  change  in 
the  government,  we  mention  first  the  court  itself. 

In  the  general  confusion,  in  the  distress  of  the 
country,  and  in  the  degeneration  of  the  nobility, 
proceeding  from  its  own  body,  the  court  hoped  to 
establish  a  greater  independence  on  its  own  part.  The 
important   offices  were  given  away  to  the   most  sub- 

1  Ferrand,  Histoire  du  demembreruent  de  la  Pologne. 


1 10  Poland. 

missive  and  most  agreeable  ;  the  nobleman  had  de- 
generated into  a  courtier,  and  the  solidity  of  the  nation 
was  purposely  undermined.  The  excess  of  evil  was 
said  to  be  the  dawn  of  a  happier  condition.  The 
majority  of  the  nobility  had  become  extremely  poor 
because  of  the  excessive  luxury  which  it  had  copied 
from  the  court ;  and  while,  perhaps,  one  hundred 
palatines,  bishops,  and  starosts  united  French  fashions, 
in  their  households  and  their  dress,  with  the  opulence 
of  the  Orient,  a  far  larger  number  of  noblemen  hired 
themselves  out  as  servants.1  Many  of  them  wished  to 
enter  into  business  in  order  to  escape  from  this  servile 
state,  and  they  would  in  this  way  have  rendered  most 
substantial  service  to  their  country.  The  diet  of  1677 
was  unwise  enough  to  declare  that  business  deprives  a 
nobleman  of  all  his  privileges,  it  being  unfit  for  him. 
And  yet  this  Polish  nobility  which  had  formerly  been 
sought  by  foreign  princes  was  now  regardlessly  flung 
away.  A  Jew  who  left  the  faith  of  his  fathers  became 
by  baptism  a  Polish  nobleman ;  and,  as  the  newer 
nobility  is  almost  everywhere  the  most  arrogant,  it  is 
understood  that  these  converts  made  a  much  greater 
noise  in  the  diets  than  the  blue  blood  of  the  Jagellons. 

The  abject  humility,  the  servility  of  the  expressions 
which  we  recognize  even  to-day  in  the  usual  greeting  : 
"  Upadam  do  nog  /  "=(I  cast  myself  at  your  feet)  is 
derived  from  this  dependence  of  the  debased  noble  ; 
and  this  among  the  inferior  classes  is  accompanied  at 
the  same  time  by  such  an  act,  or  at  least  by  an 
obeisance,  the  hand  touching  the  ground. 

Of  course  such  a  humiliated  noble  must  be  easier  to 
subdue  than  the  free-minded,  independent  old  land- 
lords. 

But   in   the   whole   state   no   one   was  less  able  to 


1  Le  gentilhomme  sous  la  livree  fait-il  une  faute,  le  cantchou  le 
corrige.  Mais  on  lui  met  un  tapis  sous  les  genoux  par  respect  pour 
sa  genealogie.     Histoire  de  J,  Sobieski  par  l'Abbe  Coyer. 


Poland.  i i i 

establish  a  predominant  power  than  its  representative 
of  supreme  authority,  the  king.  The  liberum  veto  was 
the  boundary  beyond  which  no  efforts  of  this  party 
extended. 

The  Pototski  (Potocki),  one  of  the  most  important 
families  of  the  land,  formed  another  stronger  faction. 
At  its  head  were  two  Pototski  brothers,  one  a  primate 
of  the  kingdom,  the  other  crown-general.     The  trans- 
actions of  these  men  were  managed  with  all  the  care 
that  is  duly  involved  in  an  undertaking  which  places 
the  existence  of  the  state  in  jeopardy.     The  regenera- 
tion of  Poland  was  said  to  proceed  from  Poland  itself, 
and  through  its  own  strength.     Its  great  aim  was  the 
abolishing   of  the    liberum   veto,    which    had    become 
altogether  untenable,  but  which  was  so  clear  to  the 
majority.     But  in  consequence  of  the  degeneration  of  a 
great  part  of  the  nobility,  the  Pototski  perceived  in 
that  same  greatest  evil  the  only  limit  to  a  despotism 
which  was  becoming  liberal.      Before  they  dared   to 
destroy  this,  they  thought  that  they  must  deprive  the 
crown  of  the  dangerous  instrument  by  which  it  sub- 
ordinated a  nobility,  dependent  on  the  favour  of  the 
court,    namely,    the  power  to  distribute  honours  and 
offices.     For  this  purpose  they  wished  to  establish  a 
commission   which  should  bestow  the   investitures   of 
court  favours  as  rewards  for  merit. 

But  these  reforms  affected  the  interests  of  the  crown 
and  the  poor  nobility  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
would  have  encountered  the  most  violent  opposition. 

The  Czartorinski  (Czartoryiski)  and  their  party 
stepped  forth  more  boldly  and  with  more  irresistible 
energy. 

The  disastrous  efforts  of  the  Pototski  at  the  diet  of 
1742,  had  shown  that  ^the  Polish  constitution  had 
nearly  reached  a  remarkable  stage,  a  stage  where 
stability  proceeded  from  anarchy  itself,  where  it  was 
impossible  for  the  constitution  to  develop  organic 
improvements,  and  that  Poland  glided  along  on  the 


ii2  Poland. 

rapid  stream  of  universal  history,  like  a  boatman  who 
has  voluntarily  thrown  away  his  helm.  The  very  evil 
of  the  constitution  made  it  unassailable.  There  was  no 
power  in  the  state  able  to  rise  up  against  it,  for, 
though  all  had  the  means  to  prevent  action,  yet 
none  had  the  power  to  act.  As  long  as  there  was 
a  state,  the  constitution  was  inviolable  ;  to  wish  to 
change  it,  was  to  overthrow  the  state.  The  very 
mistakes  that  made  a  reform  necessary  prevented  a 
reform.  All  authority  in  the  state  was  levelled  in  such 
a  way  that  no  power  could  be  elevated,  and  the  com- 
plete equilibrium  of  all  parts  hindered  all  movement. 
These  are  important  reasons  which  should  not  be  passed 
unnoticed,  when  we  roundly  abuse  those  who  sought 
the  centre  of  the  necessary  revolution  outside  of  the 
very  country  in  which  it  had  become  impossible  to  find 
it. 

The  family  of  the  Czartorinski,  already  elevated 
above  republican  equality  by  its  illustrious  descent 
from  the  Dukes  of  Lithuania,  for  centuries  ennobled 
with  the  first  honours  of  the  country,  and  moreover 
recently  possessed  of  great  wealth  by  marriage,  this 
family  beheld  the  two  brothers,  Michael  and  Augustus, 
at  its  head — the  former  Palatine  of  Polish  Russia,  the 
latter  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  Lithuania. 

If,  on  the  one  hand,  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
Pototski  to  establish  the  political  power  of  important 
families  at  the  cost  of  the  throne  and  by  means  of  its 
few  remaining  privileges  ;  the  party,  on  the  other  hand, 
at  whose  head  Avere  the  Czartorinski,  wished  the  very 
opposite  thing,  namely,  to  establish  this  political  power 
by  giving  greater  authority  to  the  kings,  by  the  limita- 
tion of  the  power  of  affluent  families,  and  by  the 
assertion  of  the  rights  of  the  majority.  They  wished 
this  the  more,  perhaps,  since  they,  the  scions  of  the 
Jagellons,  felt  that  they  had  the  strength  to  mount 
this  very  throne,  and  because  in  them  patriotism 
and  family-spirit  were  united.     Meantime    the  Czar- 


Poland.  113 

torinski  recognized  the  impossibility  of  effecting  the 
reform  of  the  nation  through  the  nation  only,  and  their 
eyes  were  directed  abroad  in  order  to  borrow  the 
strength  which  they  needed . 

Poland  had  always  believed  that  it  beheld  in  France 
a  naturally  ally,  and  certainly  a  sound  policy  would 
have  supported  with  vigour  such  a  reform  as  the 
Czartorinski  intended.  Only  thus  could  Poland  become 
a  state  that  had  the  power  to  act  abroad,  and  France, 
while  it  preserved  its  friendship  by  a  substantial  act  of 
beneficence,  would  have  secured  to  itself  an  ally  in  the 
East  just  as  powerful  as  it  was  faithful.  Although 
history  enumerates  a  multitude  of  factions  which 
French  intrigue  knew  how  to  stir  up  and  support  in 
Poland,  yet  we  behold  these  at  the  critical  moment 
just  as  frequently  abandoned  and  surrendered,  in- 
consistencies which  are  to  be  explained  only  by  the 
frequent  change  of  mistress -sovereignty  at  the  court  of 
Versailles.  In  earlier  as  in  later  times,  France  often 
used  Poland  for  its  own  ends  without  ever  doing  any- 
thing for  the  benefit  of  the  nation.  No  country  like 
France  has  had  the  destiny  of  Poland  in  its  hands,  and 
none  ever  deceived  it  so  greatly. 

There  was,  besides,  at  that  time,  that  alliance  between 
France  and  Austria — the  strange  creation  of  Prince 
Kaunitz — so  that  Poland  had  no  reason  to  expect  much 
aid  from  the  French. 

Austria  and  Prussia  had  just  come  from  that  bloody 
war,  after  which  Prussia  entered  so  gloriously  the 
circle  of  European  powers,  by  means  of  the  lustre  of 
its  arms,  and  the  greatness  of  its  kings.  Prussia  had 
fought  against  Europe,  and  Austria  against  Prussia. 
It  is  customary  to  measure  the  strength  of  states  by 
their  victories  and  prosperous  campaigns,  but  certainly 
no  country  furnishes  a  higher  opinion  of  its  power,  of 
the  inexhaustibility  of  its  resources  than  does  Austria 
by  its  defeats.  After  a  series  of  misfortunes  we  behold 
it  still  unconquered. 

vol.  1.  1 


ii4  Poland. 

Peace  was  concluded,  but  both  powers  had  not  yet 
laid  aside  their  arms.  Armies  of  200,000  men  stood 
ready  on  each  side  to  renew  the  battle,  if  necessary, 
and  each  jealously  watched  the  movements  of  the 
other.1  Yet  both  states  needed  and  desired  peace,  and 
continued  armed  only  in  order  to  maintain  peace. 

Certainly  Poland  could  not  expect  support  from 
either  of  these  powers.  The  help  of  one  would  be 
war  with  the  other,  the  ancient  sceptre  of  the  old 
empire  was  as  threatening  as  the  sword  of  the  young 
kingdom.  Meanwhile  both  Austria  and  Prussia  had  to 
agree  that  they  would  prefer  to  see  the  old  anarchy  of 
the  republic,  rather  than  to  offer  their  aid  to  form  a 
powerful  monarchy  out  of  this  best  of  all  neighbours 
which  would  be  dangerous  to  all  adjacent  states. 

The  Turks  also  seemed  to  be  forced  to  take  active 
interest  in  the  fate  of  Poland,  and,  indeed,  in  later 
times  the  wars  that  continued  to  occur  more  frequently 
and  to  end  more  disastrously,  and  with  which  Russia 
infested  that  kingdom,  might  have  led  it  to  support  an 
opponent  of  that  arch  enemy. 

But  the  belief  of  the  Divan  in  fatalism  made  it 
divide  all  Christian  powers  into  enemies  that  had 
fought  it  and  such  as  had  left  it  in  peace.  Since  the 
Sublime  Porte  had  no  ambassadors  at  any  court,  it 
regarded  affairs  only  in  the  light  that  ambassadors  of 
foreign  powers  took  care  that  it  ought  to  regard  them. 
Absolute  ignorance  of  all  political  matters  was  united, 
in  the  Divan,  with  religious  doctrines,  and  the  most 
sublime  contempt  of  all  opponents  with  the  greatest 
personal  inability.  Since  the  Turks  no  longer  "  en- 
camp in  Europe,"  but  reside  there,  since  they  have 
ceased  to  subjugate  their  neighbours,  they  have  also 
lost  the  power  to  defend  themselves  against  those 
neighbours.  All  the  institutions  by  which  they  once 
became  so  formidable  have  been  essentially  changed, 

1  Compare  Dohm's  Denfcwurdigkeiten  seiner  Zeit,  etc. 


Poland.  115 

and  feebleness  has  transformed  the  Turks  from  a  war- 
like people  into  a  peace-loving  state.  The  Janizaries 
were  no  longer  an  elite,  made  up  of  kidnapped  Chris- 
tian boys,  who,  without  wife  and  child  and  home, 
followed  the  gleam  of  the  crescent,  and  lived  solely  for 
fame  and  booty.  This  corps  was  now  formed  chiefly 
of  effeminate  Turks,  native  burghers  who  appropriated 
to  themselves  the  great  prerogatives  of  the  Janizaries, 
without  having  even  once  had  their  weapons  in  their 
hands.  It  is  true  the  Spahis  had  not  yet  wholly  fallen 
from  the  height  of  their  ancient  renown,  but  their 
enemies  had  meanwhile  progressed,  and  they  now 
encountered  two  barriers  which  even  their  fanatical, 
almost  insane  bravery  could  not  vanquish — these  were 
the  Spanish  "  chevaux  de  Frise"  (spiked  fences) *  and 
the  artillery.  The  remainder  of  these  armies,  numbering 
hundreds  of  thousands,  which  the  Porte  thought  it  had 
to  arm  for  each  campaign,  was  a  mob  which  deserted 
before  it  had  hardly  been  levied,  in  order  to  be  levied 
again.  After  the  loss  of  a  battle,  eighty  thousand  of 
these  men  could  be  seen  fleeing  towards  Constantinople, 
where  the  Sultan  had  to  give  them  provisions  and  ships 
to  convey  them  to  Asia  Minor,  merely  in  order  to  re- 
move a  riotous  rabble  from  the  capital  city. 

To  call  for  the  aid  of  such  an  army  was,  in  the  words 
of  the  Bishop  of  Caminiec,  "  to  set  fire  to  the  house  in 
order  to  drive  out  the  vermin." 

Now  since  Poland  had  nothing  to  hope  from  its 
friends  in  Europe,  the  Czartorinski  boldly  determined 
to  make  use  of  their  enemies  for  their  own  purposes, 
not  doubting  but  that  they  could  again,  at  the  proper 
time,  destroy  the  power  which  they  would  create  for 
themselves,  and  shatter  the  dangerous  tool  when  it  had 

1  Spanish  spiked  fences,  chevaux  de  Fri'se,  are  beams  provided  with 
six  rows  of  pointed  pales,  forming  a  parapet  nearly  four  or  five 
feet  high,  which  the  Russian  infantry  carried  with  them  everywhere 
in  the  Turkish  campaigns,  and  on  which  the  furious  attack  of  the 
cavalry  was  bound  to  be  dashed  to  pieces. 

i  2 


1 1 6  Poland. 

served  their  purpose.  With  a  profound  contempt  for 
semi-barbarous  Russia,  they  wished  to  avail  themselves 
of  its  material  strength  for  the  regeneration  of  Poland, 
in  order  to  use  this  new  strong  Poland  to  rebut  the 
presumptions  of  Russia,  which  already  rested  heavily 
on  the  republic.  But  this  task  was  begun  during 
the  feeble  reign  of  Peter  III.,  and  when  it  was  finished, 
Catharine's  mighty  arm  already  swayed  the  sceptre  of 
Peter  the  Great,  and  the  spirits  of  destruction  that 
had  been  so  boldly  summoned  were  not  to  be  banished 
by  any  form  of  incantation. 

Russia's  development  has  been  thoroughly  Asiatic. 
Although  the  sun  of  Christianity  a  thousand  years 
after  its  rising  had  cast  its  rays  of  light  upon  these 
deserts,  yet  it  has  not  made  gentle  manners  or 
customs,  sciences  and  commerce  to  flourish.  At  an  early 
period  the  independence  of  the  people  passed  into 
servitude,1  that  of  the  nobility  into  the  unlimited  power 
of  the  princes,  and  that  of  the  princes  into  the  greater 
governments  which  were  in  Kiew,  Nowgorod,  Moscow, 
and  finally  in  St.  Petersburg.  The  will  of  the  indivi- 
dual disappeared  more  and  more  in  the  will  of  the  state, 
or  rather  of  the  chief  executive  officer,  who  in  his 
person  combined  the  highest  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
power,  as  in  no  other  European  state.  Hence  the 
unity  and  power  in  the  transactions  of  the  state,  hence 
the  rapid  development  of  the  same,  for  despotism  is 
the  best  form  of  government  for  barbarians.  There- 
fore Polish  history  is  also  the  history  of  great  men, 

1  In  the  code  of  Jaroslaw,  1050_,  it  states  :  "  A  man  sold  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses  becomes  a  bond-servant  or  a  slave — if  he  is  not 
able  to  pay  his  creditor, — if  he  hires  himself  unconditionally  as  a 
servant, — if  he  marries  a  female  slave,  etc." 

"  A  horse-thief  shall  be  delivered  to  the  prince,  and  shall  lose  all 
his  civil  rights,  freedom,  and  property." 

"  No  life-money  shall  be  paid  for  a  slave,  but  whoever  kills  him 
without  cause  must  pay  to  his  lord  the  value  of  the  slain  man." 

Karamsin,  Oeschichte  des  russischen  Reiches,  2  vol.,  3  article — 
Kriminal-Gesetze . 


Poland.  117 

Russian  that  of  a  great  state.  In  the  former  we 
witness  the  virtues  of  individuals  struggling  with  the 
faults  of  the  whole  multitude,  in  the  latter  the  talent 
of  a  line  of  hereditary  princes  shattered  on  the  badness 
of  those  who  were  summoned  to  support  them. 

The  progress  of  Russia  was  shaken  by  a  series 
of  disturbances,  for  revolutions  are  more  frequent 
when  there  is  less  freedom.  The  hatred  of  a  despotic 
sceptre  is  joined  with  its  destruction.  And,  therefore, 
it  is  only  a  step  from  dissatisfaction  to  revolution,  for 
it  is  less  dangerous  to  overthrow  the  government  than 
to  complain  of  it. 

For  centuries  Russia  was  perfectly  isolated  and 
separated  from  the  world.  The  mighty  streams  burst- 
ing forth  from  its  endless  forests  led  to  a  sea  with  no 
outlet  or  to  regions  of  eternal  ice.  Unbounded 
wildernesses  separated  it  from  the  rest  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  globe,  and  although  the  territory  of  the  new 
Russian  state  might  be  immeasurable,  yet  Russia  was 
by  necessity  bound  to  make  an  even  greater  extension 
of  the  same,  if  it  was  ever  to  leave  that  state  of 
isolation. 

But  in  the  south  insurmountable  mountains  and 
endless  steppes  hostilely  opposed  it,  in  the  east  a  people 
numbering  nine  hundred  million  souls,  and  civilized 
centuries  ago,  in  the  north  an  unconquerable  natural 
obstacle. 

At  last  Peter  the  Great  with  an  iron  hand  shook  his 
people  out  of  the  sleep  of  barbarism,  but  was  not  able 
to  elevate  them  to  a  high  grade  of  civilization,  which 
must  be  the  work  of  time,  and  is  not  to  be  reached  by 
any  momentary  efforts  however  gigantic.  But  when 
he  opened  to  Russia  the  Baltic  Sea  he  built  the  first 
channel  for  the  political  life  of  his  country,  and  when 
he  turned  from  the  riches  of  the  East  to  the  arts  of  the 
West,  he  gave  Russia  the  first  impulse  which  made 
Russia  a  European  state. 

From  that  time  Poland  was  destined  to  become  the 


n8  Poland. 

mark  always  in  view  of  the  rulers  of  Russia,  and  this 
republic,  one  of  the  oldest  of  European  states,  beheld 
with  terror  its  position  between  two  of  the  youngest 
monarchies  of  this  part  of  the  world,  whose  aggressive 
development  was  completely  blockaded  by  its  geo- 
graphical location. 

Since  the  last  century  Poland  had  become  accustomed 
to  seeing  Russian  armies  within  its  boundaries,  some- 
times to  protect  the  so-called  oppressed  dissenters, 
sometimes  to  take  care  of  the  rights  of  the  nobility, 
once  to  preserve  the  freedom  of  the  nation,  that  is, 
the  anarchy  so  necessary  to  the  neighbour,  another 
time  to  keep  the  liberum  veto  in  force,  for  after 
public  opinion  had  condemned  it  Russian  arms  con- 
tinued to  restore  it.  Sometimes  it  was  to  protect  the 
house  of  Saxony  on  the  throne,  sometimes  to  expel  it 
from  the  same. 

During  the  Seven  Years'  War  Poland  had  to  grant 
passage  and  winter  quarters  to  one  hundred  thousand 
Russians,  and — as  a  passive  witness  of  their  excesses 
and  oppressions — to  feed  and  clothe  them.  Even  after 
the  final  declaration  of  peace,  twelve  thousand  Russians 
remained  in  the  country  under  the  empty  pretext  of 
guarding  a  magazine  in  Graudenz  because  it  could 
not  be  disposed  of  profitably.  The  few  fortifications 
possessed  by  Poland  besides  Danzig,  which  protected 
itself,  were  in  the  hands  of  Russians,  who,  with  even 
a  much  smaller  army,  would  have  been  able  to  rule 
in  a  country  where  the  authorities  had  no  common 
basis  of  action ;  for  the  confederation  itself  became 
in  the  hands  of  the  Russians  a  most  terrible  means 
of  subjection. 

The  Russian  arms,  which  had  already  half  subdued 
Poland,  now  became  the  instrument  by  which  the 
Czartorinski  wished  to  liberate  their  fatherland. 

This  family  had  so  long  enjoyed  all  the  favours  of 
the  court  that  the  disfavour  of  the  same  could  no 
longer   be  harmful    to  it ;  it  was  wholly  independent 


Poland.  119 

of  this  court  and  had  become  its  formidable  enemy. 
A  name,  associated  with  memories  of  great  historical 
events  and  extended  through  family  alliances,  assured 
the  Czartorinski  an  important  influence  over  the 
most  powerful  houses  of  the  country.  Boundless 
wealth,  a  hospitality  corresponding  to  this  wealth  and 
the  spirit  of  those  times  kept  a  very  great  number 
of  poorer  noblemen  dependent  upon  them.  Finally, 
the  extensive  privileges  of  the  high  offices  which 
they  filled  caused  their  favour  to  be  sought  by  all 
those  who  desired  to  advance  through  official  positions. 
Yet  all  this  power  and  all  this  popularity  were  not 
sufficient,  when  the  time  came,  to  deprive  the  demo- 
cracy of  nobles  of  those  rights  which  gave  it  the  sole 
weight  in  the  state. 

In  order  to  promote  their  own  affairs,  the  Czar- 
torinski had  caused  their  nephew,  Poniatowski,  to  be 
sent  to  St.  Petersburg  as  an  ambassador  of  the 
republic.  But  this  young  man  had  his  own  ambitious 
plans  in  view. 

An  incident  that  borders  on  the  miraculous  had 
already  prophesied  a  crown  to  him  while  yet  in  his 
cradle,  and  this  prophecy  itself  contributed  not  a 
little  to  bring  about  its  own  fulfilment.  His  parents, 
having  become  accustomed  to  extraordinary  things 
in  consequence  of  their  own  unique  history,  regarded 
nothing  as  impossible,  gave  their  child  the  significant 
names  Stanislaus  Augustus,  directed  the  education  of 
the  boy  wholly  with  a  view  to  this  extraordinary  end, 
and  did  not  hesitate  to  initiate  the  youth  at  an  early 
age  into  the  secret  of  their  daring  hopes.1 

During  his  residence  in  St.  Petersburg  the  personal 
attractions  of  this  youth  had  the  good  fortune  to  win 
for  him  the  favour  of  the  young  grand  duchess  of 
Russia,  afterwards  Catharine  II.  This  affection  became 
a  passion,  when,  at  the  request  of  the   grand   duke, 

1  Rulhiere,  Hist,  de  l'anarclrie  de  Pologne,  Tome  I. 


120  Poland. 

Poniatowski    was    recalled  from   St.  Petersburg,   and 
Catharine  promised  to  fulfil  the  prophecy  regarding  him. 

Indeed,  when  she  seized  the  sceptre  of  her  ill-fated 
husband  and  when  the  throne  of  Poland  was  vacant, 
she  prepared  to  fulfil  her  promise  either  out  of  a 
romantic  attachment  to  her  lover,  or  out  of  a  vain 
desire  to  give  away  a  throne.  Did  she  really  think 
of  a  marriage  and  of  an  alliance  of  both  Slavonic 
countries  or  was  she  ambitious  to  gain  a  powerful 
influence  over  the  political  affairs  of  Europe  ? 

Meanwhile  her  own  position  in  a  country  like  Russia, 
on  a  throne  so  frequently  disturbed,  which  she  had 
just  ascended  by  means  of  a  new  revolution,  was  by 
no  means  so  firm,  that  she  could  have  dared  to  take  any 
important  steps  towards  a  nation  which  was  still 
accounted  powerful,  without  having  assured  herself 
of  a  strong  party  in  this  nation. 

Here  now  the  princes  Czartorinski  advanced  to  meet 
her  ;  they  seemed  willing  to  lay  the  nation  in  bonds, 
in  order  to  make  it  tractable  for  the  purposes  of  the 
empress. 

Unmindful  of  the  two  laws  which  pronounce  him 
outlawed  who,  in  an  interregnum,  calls  foreign  troops 
into  the  country,  and  which  annul  all  enactments  made 
for  this  purpose,  the  Czartorinski  demanded  the 
entrance  of  a  Russian  army.  Consent  was  given  to 
this,  for  both  parties  were  working  energetically,  each 
determined  to  work  for  itself  and  to  use  the  other  only 
as  a  tool  for  its  own  purposes. 

The  important  influence  of  the  princes  Czartorinski 
had  already  manifested  itself  in  the  diet  of  1762,  when 
it  was  found  necessary  to  take  measures  against  Cour- 
land  by  means  of  Russian  troops.  Most  violent  scenes 
were  the  result,  and  this  diet,  like  all  its  predecessors, 
was  dissolved  ;  indeed,  all  the  princes,  who  were  design- 
ing to  place  supreme  power  in  the  hands  of  the 
monarch  did  not  hesitate  to  bring  to  notice  the  distri- 
bution of  the  offices  by  a  national  commission,  and  to 


Poland.  i  2 1 

protest  against  the  present  appointment  of  the  same. 
They  thus  intended  to  gain  a  larger  following  among 
the  poorer  nobility  and  at  the  same  time  to  drive  their 
most  powerful  foes,  namely,  the  young  princes  Radzi- 
will,  from  their  offices.  After  the  death  of  Augustus 
III.,  at  the  convocation-diet  which  was  expressly  in- 
tended to  consider  necessary  reforms  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  government,  these  very  Czartorinski 
agreed  to  that  proposition.  Although  they  intended 
shortly  to  make  the  greatest  of  all  reforms,  yet  they 
feared  only  the  more  to  do  this  and  to  arouse  suspicion 
among  the  nobles  until  they  were  in  their  power. 
Experience  had  taught  them  that  they  would  accom- 
plish none  of  their  plans  so  long  as  the  nation  was 
free. 

Finally,  the  decisive  crisis  for  Poland,  the  new  royal 
election,  drew  near,  decisive,  not  so  much  on  account 
of  the  election  of  one  or  another  individual  to  the 
throne,  but  on  account  of  the  conditions  under  which  he 
was  to  ascend  this  throne. 

In  order  to  have  at  hand  the  funds  necessary  for 
this  imperial  diet,  Catharine  had  stopped  all  payments 
in  the  empire,  even  the  pay  of  the  military.1  The 
Russian  money,  by  which  Polish  deputies  were  to  be 
bought,  was  brought  into  Warsaw  under  a  strong 
military  escort ;  12,000  Russians  encamped  in  front 
of  the  gates  of  the  city,  or  were  brought  by  forced 
marches  to  it.  A  Russian  army  of  60,000  men  was 
stationed  on  the  frontiers  of  the  republic.  The  princes 
of  Czartorinski  brought  2000  of  their  household  troops, 
and  through  the  influence  exercised  by  them  at  the 
elections  of  deputies,  they  were  sure  of  finding  a  great 
number  of  friends  or  supporters  among  the  members  of 

1  Les  soldats  n'en  murmuraient  point,  esperant  bieivs'en  dedomraager 
par  le  pillage  des  provinces  polonnaises,  habitues  depuis  longtemps  a 
regarder  le  choix  d'un  roi  de  Pologne  corame  un  droit  que  leurs 
souverains  excercaient  avec  quelques  efforts.  Rhuliere,  Tome  II. 
livre  2. 


122  Poland. 

the  diet,  the  more  so  since  they  had  distributed  money 
with  the  greatest  profusion. 

But  if  the  Russian  party  was  equipped  on  its  side, 
the  republican,  which,  for  the  moment,  had  coalesced 
with  the  Saxon  against  so  formidable  an  enemy,  had 
taken  no  less  precautions,  and  the  more  imminent  the 
danger  the  more  determined  were  they  to  brave  it.  A 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  ducats  which  had  been  paid  them 
by  Saxony  revived  the  courage  of  the  multitude  for  a 
cause  in  which  money  had  now  for  a  long  time  exerted 
its  weighty  influence. 

Branicki  and  Mokranowski  were  the  two  men  upon 
whom  the  republicans  had  their  eyes  directed.  The 
former  was  honoured  for  a  long  life,  full  of  glory,  the 
latter  was  the  hope  of  all,  because  of  his  unshaken 
honesty  and  courage  which  seemed  to  assure  him  an 
illustrious  future. 

The  army  of  the  republic  could  not  be  assembled. 
However,  its  number  did  not  exceed  four  thousand 
undisciplined  soldiers. 

The  aged  crown-general,  therefore,  marched  with  his 
entire  body-guard  to  Warsaw,  leaving  his  own  property 
unprotected  against  the  pillage  of  the  Russians.  The 
nucleus  of  his  small  army  consisted  of  Hungarians, 
Janizaries  and  Tartars.  Radziwill  joined  him  with  his 
troops,  proudly  conscious  that  no  one  would  dare  to 
assail  the  freedom  of  the  republic  until  he  himself  had 
perished.  The  Oginski,  Massalski,  Malachowski,  Lubo- 
mirski,  and  many  other  celebrated  names  were  men- 
tioned among  their  followers. 

Despite  the  weakness  of  this  party  when  compared 
with  their  opponents,  its  leaders  did  not  despair,  even 
in  face  of  the  Russians,  of  preventing  a  free  diet,  or,  if 
that  should  be  impossible,  of  annulling  the  diet  under 
Russian  protection.  Mokranowski  undertook  the 
dangerous  task  of  breaking  it  up  by  his  veto. 

About  this  time  the  ambassador  of  Prussia  entered 
also  under  the  protection  of  a  squadron    of  hussars. 


Poland.  123 

Warsaw  at  that  time  presented  perhaps  the  most 
brilliant  and  most  wonderful  sight  of  any  city  in 
Europe.  Besides  a  multitude  of  natives  and  strangers, 
whom  secret  commissions  or  personal  interests  had 
brought  hither,  the  city  walls  enclosed  all  the  great, 
influential  and  noble  men  that  Poland  had  to  exhibit. 
The  enormous  sums  which  bribery  had  amassed  here, 
and  which  being  easily  earned  were  as  easily  squandered, 
enlivened  trade  in  an  unprecedented  manner.  The 
brilliant  shops  shone  with  the  luxury  of  both  hemi- 
spheres, the  costly  clothes  of  Armenia,  the  dear 
baubles  of  Parisian  fashion,  the  pearls  of  India,  the 
native  horses — all  these  found  their  purchasers,  how- 
ever expensive.  Heavily  laden  ships  sailed  up  the 
stream,  and,  in  the  busy  streets,  Christians,  JeAYS,  and 
Mussulmans  thronged  promiscuously.  The  turban  of 
the  Janizary  appeared  side  by  side  with  the  fur  cap  of 
the  Pole,  and  the  dolman  of  the  Hungarian.  The  bow 
and  arrows  of  the  Tartar  were  seen  beside  the  carbine 
of  the  Prussian  and  the  bayonet  of  the  Russian,  and 
the  languages  of  two  divisions  of  the  globe  were 
resounding  in  the  air.  From  the  crowded  festivals  and 
spectacles,  from  the  active  bustle  and  the  beauty  of  the 
women,  from  the  gayness  of  their  dress,  one  could  have 
fancied  that  all  these  were  assembled  for  a  great  national 
celebration.  But  the  residences  of  the  nobles  were 
surrounded  by  their  household  guards.  Poniatowski 
had  ordered  his  palace  to  be  machicolated,  and  cannon 
were  mounted  in  the  Court  of  the  Russian  Embassy. 
All  were  armed,  and  although  they  all  circulated 
peacefully  among  themselves,  yet  everyone  trembled 
lest  an  accident,  a  quarrel,  might  become  the  spark  to 
start  a  most  terrible  explosion  in  a  place  where  personal 
passions  and  intense  interests  were  strained  to  the 
highest  pitch,  and  where  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
avoid  the  most  violent  outbreaks. 

Thus  the  seventh  of  May,   1764,  arrived,  the    date 
appointed  for  the  opening  of  the  imperial  diet. 


124  Poland. 

All  the  guards  were  doubled,  strong  detachments  of 
cavalry  marched  through  the  streets,  five  hundred 
grenadiers  guarded  the  palace  of  the  Russian  ambassa- 
dor, Von  Kayserlingk,  and  the  Russian  army  was 
drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  before  the  city,  ready  to 
enter  it  at  the  first  command.  The  supporters  of  the 
Czartorinski,  distinguished  by  a  cockade  of  the  colours 
of  this  house,  marched  with  strong  escorts  to  the 
house  of  assembly.  This  was  surrounded  and  filled 
with  Russian  soldiers,  who  were  to  be  seen  even  in  the 
seats  of  the  deputies.  When  the  marshal  of  the  diet, 
Malachowski,  entered  with  Mokranowski,  the  attention 
of  those  present  in  the  assembly  was  worked  up  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  expectancy.  When  the  latter  had 
taken  his  seat  as  deputy,  he  addressed  those  present  in 
the  following  words: — "Since  liberty  has  vanished 
from  among  us,  since  Russian  troops  have  made  their 
way  even  into  the  assembly  of  the  republic,  and  since 
the  representatives  of  the  country  wear  the  livery  of  a 
family,  in  the  name  of  twenty-two  senators  and  of 
forty-five  deputies,  as  well  as  in  my  own,  I  declare  the 
diet  annulled  and  dissolved." 

A  fearful  uproar  arose  at  these  words.  They  cried 
to  the  marshal  of  the  diet,  standing  in  the  centre  of  the 
hall  Avith  his  staff  lowered,  to  raise  it  as  a  sign  that  the 
diet  was  reopened.  But  this  veteran  of  eighty  years 
replied  :  "  You  cannot  take  counsel  in  the  presence  of 
the  Russians.  You  may  cut  off  this  hand,  but  it  shall 
never  raise  the  staff  so  long  as  we  are  enslaved.  A 
free  nation  entrusted  it  to  me,  and  only  a  free  nation 
can  take  it  from  me.  I  demand  permission  to  leave 
the  hall." 

A  general  tumult  had  begun,  all  swords  were  drawn 
and  the  bold  men  were  surrounded.  The  Russians 
rushed  down  upon  them  from  the  galleries,  but  the 
Czartorinski  themselves  gathered  round  them  and 
shielded  them  with  their  own  bodies,  horrified  at  the 
disgrace  with  which  the  murder  of  two   citizens,   so 


Poland.  125 

universally  respected,  would  have  overwhelmed  their 
enterprise.  The  two  actually  escaped  from  the  wrath 
of  the  crowd,  and  Malachowski  bore  away  the  marshal's 
staff  before  the  eyes  of  the  Russians,  the  deputies  and 
the  people. 

The  following  morning  the  republicans  left  the  city. 
They  had  been  requested  not  to  pass  through  the  camp 
of  the  Russians.  "I  do  not  inquire  where  the 
Russians  are,"  answered  Branicki,  "  but  I  shall  take 
the  usual  road."  Silent,  and  in  battle  array,  the 
republican  army  passed  by  the  Russians — no  greeting, 
no  challenge  nor  shout  was  heard,  and,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  Poniatowski  saw  many  a  valiant  friend  of  the 
fatherland  withdraw  from  his  cause. 

The  Czartorinski  had  foreseen  all  these  events,  and 
had  fully  prepared  for  them.  Neither  the  fury  of  the 
people  nor  the  abhorrence  of  the  honest  patriots, 
neither  the  appearance  of  treachery  nor  the  danger  of 
subjection  must  be  allowed  to  disturb  them,  if  they 
wished  to  attain  their  highest  object — the  reconstruction 
of  Poland.  It  was  time  that  the  diet  should  be  legally 
dissolved  by  the  protest  of  Mokranowski,  but  from  the 
very  beginning  it  was  illegal  because  of  the  presence  of 
a  Russian  army,  and  because  the  Russians  had  pre- 
vented the  election  of  the  Russian  nobles,  as  deputies, 
at  Graudenz.  In  this  case  might  had  to  take  the  place 
of  right,  and  the  princes  Czartorinski  did  not  let  the 
power  lie  unused  which  they  had  usurped  after  such 
great  sacrifices. 

The  few  remaining  deputies,  who  were  not  wholly 
dependent  upon  the  Czartorinski,  were  outvoted  or 
deceived.  The  princes  occupied  the  people  with 
important  discussions  or  sacrificed  the  demands  of  the 
dissenters  to  their  fanaticism,  so  that  the  latter  saw 
themselves  placed  on  an  equality  with  the  protected 
Jews,  so  far  as  their  rights  were  concerned.  It  was 
not  till  the  greater  part  of  the  time  fixed  for  the  diet 
had    expired,    that   they   brought    forward   the    most 


126  Poland. 

important  matters,  concealed  in  ambiguous  phrases,  and 
discussed  with  such  haste,  that  the  majority  hardly 
knew  what  was  the  question  under  discussion.  The 
foreign  ambassadors  had  opposed  the  abolition  of  the 
liber um  veto,  but  the  princes,  although  they  had  to 
yield  to  this  point,  knew  how  to  evade  this  law  almost 
entirely  by  means  of  new  measures. 

The  high  officials  in  the  departments  of  justice, 
finance,  war,  and  police,  had  heretofore  been  so  many 
sovereigns.  These  men,  the  natural  opponents  of  the 
proposed  reforms,  were  deposed  in  a  body,  and 
Michael  Czartorinski,  as  Chancellor  of  Lithuania, 
voluntarily  laid  aside  his  office.  To  each  of  these 
departments  were  appointed  colleges  having  sixteen 
members.  In  these  the  members  had  to  be  appointed 
by  the  diet,  and  only  while  the  diet  was  not  in  session 
did  the  king  have  the  right  to  make  such  appointments. 
But  as  it  was  very  evident  that  no  diet  could  end  its 
session  so  long  as  the  liberum  veto  existed,  this  formid- 
able liberum  veto  served  to  prolong  the  power  of  the 
king. 

It  was  also  resolved  that  all  proposals  and  business 
affairs  which  referred  directly  to  the  welfare  of  the 
republic,  should  be  decided  at  the  very  commencement 
of  the  diet,  and,  what  is  more,  by  legal  form,  that  is, 
by  a  majority  vote.  This  expression  was  vague  enough 
to  allow  all  possible  kinds  of  matters  to  come  under  its 
head,  and  it  was  little  less  than  the  practical  abolish- 
ment of  the  liberum  veto,  if  Poland  could  become 
strong  enough  to  hold  its  own  against  foreign  powers. 

Moreover  a  number  of  resolutions  restored  order  in 
all  the  departments  of  the  administration.  The  war 
department  was  empowered  to  care  for  the  extension, 
instruction,  discipline  and  maintenance  of  the  army, 
which  itself  was  to  be  increased.  In  the  judicial 
department  a  court  of  justice  was  to  be  once  more 
granted  to  the  peasants.  The  power  of  the  nobles  was 
broken,  the  offices  which  were  almost  independent  of 


Poland.  127 

the  king  were  abolished,  the  arbitrary  power  of  the 
nobles  over  their  subjects  was  restricted,  the  privileges 
of  the  great  cities,  of  the  provinces,  and  of  the  religious 
sects  were  abrogated,  and  all  were  placed  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  government. 

On  the  seventh  of  September,  1764,  Stanislaus 
Augustus  Poniatowski  ascended  the  throne  which  his 
uncles  had  strengthened  and  provided  with  such 
important  privileges.  The  four  regiments  of  guards 
were  placed  under  his  immediate  command,  the  postal 
service  and  the  mint  were  entrusted  to  his  control,  and 
he  was  allowed  to  choose  for  himself  four  of  the  most 
valuable  domains  which  belonged  to  the  nobles. 

Thus  the  Chancellor  of  Lithuania  succeeded  in  trans- 
forming the  whole  anarchical  administration  into  an 
actual  monarchy.  Under  the  guise  of  improving  a 
few  branches  of  the  administration,  the  entire  structure 
of  the  government  had  been  actually  reconstructed. 
But  in  order  to  preserve  before  foreign  powers  the 
appearance  of  the  old  constitution  and  even  of  the  old 
abuses,  and,  at  the  same  time,  in  order  to  force  the 
nobility  to  submit  to  the  new  order  of  things,  and  to  be 
armed  against  foreign  foes,  the  diet  was  changed  at  the 
end  of  the  session  into  a  confederation,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  placed  a  Czartorinski. 

Never  before  had  an  undertaking  involving  greater 
difficulties  been  more  boldly  planned,  more  skilfully 
executed,  and,  apparently,  more  happily  accomplished 
than  this  governmental  reform  of  the  Czartorinski. 

The  presence  of  foreign  enemies  had  forced  those 
at  home  to  remain  quiet.  The  ravages  and  acts  of 
violence  wrought  by  the  Russians  had  been  a  powerful 
weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  princes.  Their  arms 
restrained  the  nobility,  and  the  confederate  nobles 
were  enabled  to  protect  the  new  constitution  with  the 
means  which  created  it. 

But  not  only  the  Russian  arms,  but  also  the  passions 
of  their  empress  had  been  of  service  to  the  princes. 


128  Poland. 

Since  their  pride  had  caused  the  sacrifice  of  a  crown, 
since  they  had  renounced  the  splendour  of  an  unstable 
throne,  they  were  certain  that  they  would  be  able  to 
retain  the  exercise  of  all  their  rights  in  the  newly- 
formed  monarchy.  Those  who  had  helped  Poland 
did  not  observe  that  it  had  received  a  new  constitution, 
that  the  basis  of  a  powerful  monarchy  had  been  laid, 
until  this  incredible  event  had  become  an  actual  fact. 

The  new  sceptre  of  Poland  wanted  nothing  now  but 
a  strong  hand  to  wield  it,  but  Stanislaus  Augustus  was 
not  equal  to  this  difficult  task.  He  was  terrified  at  the 
thought  of  a  war  with  Russia,  and  a  revolution  among 
the  dissatisfied  nobles.  When  he  separated  his  interests 
from  those  of  his  uncles,  he  gave  up  their  creation  and 
Poland,  and  when  he  placed  all  his  hopes  on  the 
generosity  of  the  Empress  of  Russia,  he  became  the 
victim  of  her  policy. 

The  downfall  of  the  republic,  and  the  final  divi- 
sion of  its  territory,  were  the  natural  consequences  of 
the  entire  internal  condition  of  this  state,  whose 
continuance  had  become  impossible.  We  are  only 
astonished  that  it  could  have  existed  so  long.  It 
is  true  that  the  constitution  of  the  third  of  May,  1791, 
made  one  more  attempt  to  preserve  the  existence  of  the 
country  by  a  regeneration  of  its  institutions.  A 
reasonable  increase  of  the  power  of  the  king,  and  the 
hereditary  right  of  the  same,  the  abolition  of  the 
liberum  veto,  the  emancipation  of  the  middle  class,  and 
some  few  advantages  made  for  the  welfare  of  the 
peasants,1  were  the  chief  purposes  of  a  wiser  constitution 
which  Poland  ought  to  have  made  to  flourish  after  a 

1  As  regards  the  insufficiency  of  this  constitution,  the  difference 
between  what  it  was  intended  to  do,  and  what  it  actually  did 
accomplish,  we  may  say  with  Mably  : — "  On  ne  peut  attaquer 
directement  les  abus  les  plus  considerables  sans  effaroucher  les 
citoyens  qui  trouveront  un  avantage  a,  les  conserver.  Cette  multi- 
tude innombrable  se  liguera,  elle  conjurera  contre  la  pa  trie,  et  ses 
efforts  reunis  ernpecheront  sans  doute  qu'on  ne  put  fixer  les  principes 


Poland.  129 

long  schooling  in  tribulation.  But  this  attempt  was 
made  a  hundred  years  too  late,  and  it  had  no  effect  on 
the  internal  life  of  the  state. 

The  dismemberment  of  the  republic  was  fated  at  last 
to  cause  its  destruction,  and  with  sadness  Poland  beheld 
her  own  sons  in  the  ranks  of  her  enemies. 

There  was  another  reason  why  social  reforms  could 
not  take  root  in  Poland,  and  even  combined  in  ruining 
the  republic,  that  is,  because  those  classes  of  society  for 
whose  benefit  the  reforms  were  intended  had  them- 
selves not  yet  been  brought  into  existence ;  at  least, 
they  were  on  so  low  a  stratum  of  culture  and  power 
that  the  new  order  of  things  could  not  have  hoped  to 
find  in  them  a  support  and  a  defender. 

Finally,  one  must  not  fail  to  observe  that  Poland  by 
its  very  geographical  position  was  altogether  in  the 
way  of  two  neighbouring  states,  both  of  which  had  in 
the  last  hundred  years  made  rapid  and  unparalleled 
progress,  and  in  their  speedy  development  were  bound 
to  ruin  themselves  or  to  annihilate  all  barriers  opposing 
them.  The  formation  of  the  land  itself  brought  the 
Polish  nation  into  collision  with  Prussia,  and  this  became 
obvious  the  very  moment  these  peoples  emerged  from 
their  barbarous  isolation. 

After  that  Russia  had  taken  the  Black  Sea  from  the 
Polish  republic,  all  the  latter's  rivers  and  ways  of  com- 
munication led  through  Prussia.  Prussia  cut  it  off  from 
the  sea  and  from  the  world  beyond.  The  Vistula  was 
the  last  great  artery  of  life  left  to  Poland,  and  Prussia 
was  in  possession  of  the  mouth  of  this  river.  Indeed, 
one  cannot  well  understand  how  Poland  is  to  remain 
independent  without  Prussia.  One  is  unwilling  to 
claim  that  this  may  be  secured  by  the  possession  of 
Danzig  or  by  free  navigation  on  the  Vistula,     Woe  to 


du  gouvernement.  Combien  de  k'gislateurs  n'ont  pii  reparer  la  faute 
qu'ils  avaient  faite  de  montre  rou  de  laisser  entrevoir  toute  l'etendue 
des  projects  qu'ils  mcditaient." 

VOL.    I.  K 


130  Poland. 

the  people  whose  existence  is  to  depend  on  a  title-deed 
for  which  it  does  not  hold  the  guarantee  by  its  own 
strength  !  Sooner  or  later  Prussia  must  have  become 
Polish,  or  Prussian  Poland,  or  the  republic  must  have 
ceased  to  exist.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to 
reflect  what  might  have  been  the  probable  fate  of  this 
state  if  it  had  called  to  its  throne  the  house  of  Branden- 
burg instead  of  Saxony. 

The  threefold  partition  of  Poland  did  not  end  the 
long  series  of  convulsions,  and  this  unfortunate  land 
continued  to  be  the  scene  of  revolutions  after  it  had 
been  dropped  from  the  roll  of  nations. 

Many  Poles  emigrated  after  the  catastrophe  at  the 
end  of  the  year  1795  which  decided  the  fate  of  the 
country,  and  those  capable  of  bearing  arms  were 
gradually  enlisted  under  the  flag  of  France.  It  is  well 
known  how  valiantly  these  men  helped  to  make  all 
those  glorious  campaigns  which  elevated  France  to  her 
supremacy,  a  supremacy  soon  to  rest  heavily  on  all 
Europe. 

And  now  all  the  Poles,  who  regarded  their  new 
rulers  as  oppressors  and  the  restoration  of  their  country 
as  their  salvation,  centered  their  hopes  in  France, 
their  oldest  ally,  their  natural  friend  for  whom  they 
had  just  fought  more  successfully  than  for  them- 
selves. Napoleon,  the  arbitrator  of  the  destinies  of  the 
world,  who  had  founded  so  many  new  empires  on  the 
ruins  of  those  he  had  destroyed,  why  should  he  not 
reunite  the  fragments  of  one  of  the  oldest  powers,  one 
that  had  been  his  most  faithful  ally  ? 

And  when  the  peace  of  Tilsit  gave  him  the  power  to 
make  a  present  of  one  half  of  Prussia  and  to  crush  the 
other,  he  actually  did  form  an  independent  state  out  of 
that  part  of  Poland  Avhich  had  belonged  to  Prussia  and 
called  it  the  Duchy  of  Warsaw. 

This  new  Polish  duchy  received  a  French  constitu- 
tion and  a  German  regent,  the  King  of  Saxony.  The 
diets   were   newly   organized    and    divided    into  two 


Poland.  13 r 

chambers,  the  French  code  was  introduced  and  bond 
service  abolished. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  what  happened  at  this 
time  and  what  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  the  multitude. 
An  area  of  eighteen  hundred  square  miles,  with  a 
population  of  four  million  Poles,  had  been  constituted 
an  independent  duchy,  and  the  new  state  was  only  too 
soon  to  feel  the  whole  weight  of  its  political  existence. 
The  proximity  of  Russia  and  Austria  made  it  necessary 
to  maintain  an  army  which  was  disproportionate  to  the 
population  of  the  country.  It  is  true  that  an  esteemed 
and  paternal  ruler  had  been  assigned  to  Poland,  but 
Saxony  was  not  of  itself  sufficiently  important  to  save 
the  country  from  the  oppression  of  Napoleon.  The 
military  levies  for  the  French  armies  by  means  of  the 
forcible  system  of  conscription,  robbed  the  land  of  its 
strength.  The  civil  list,  which  had  been  planned  on  a 
grand  scale,  and  the  endowments  of  the  French 
marshals  exhausted  its  revenues.  But  the  "  Berlin 
Decrees  "  did  more  than  anything  else  to  destroy  the 
sources  of  wealth  from  which  such  great  advantages 
could  have  been  gained.  All  commerce  ceased,  and 
Poland  suffered  great  want  in  the  midst  of  its  many 
products.  And  now  to  these  great  sacrifices  was 
added  the  conviction,  which  forced  itself  upon  all 
thinking  people,  that  the  duchy  was  fated  to  be  the 
scene  of  the  first  war  between  France  and  Austria  or 
Russia,  and  that  it  would  then  be  deserted  by  France, 
even  by  its  own  troops.  For  the  army  which  was 
maintained  by  the  country  with  extreme  difficulty  was 
not  even  at  hand  for  the  protection  of  the  country,  but 
was  distributed  in  the  Prussian  fortresses  or  was  fight- 
ing in  Spain.1 

Although  it  was  truly  an  oppressive  burden  for  all 
governmental   arrangements    and    obligations    to    be 

1  Compare  u  Mcmoires  sur  la  Pologne  et  les  Polonais,"  by  Mich. 
Oginski. 

K    2 


132  Poland. 

apportioned  wholly  disproportionate  to  the  size  of  the 
duchy,  yet  many  believed  that  in  this  they  had  a 
surer  pledge  that  Napoleon  had  only  formed  the  frame- 
work of  a  new  state  in  which  subsequently  all  Poland 
should  be  reunited.  The  greatness  of  the  sacrifices 
which  this  nation  made  for  France  seemed  to  authorize 
expectations  not  less  great.  Napoleon  himself  had 
plainly  expressed  his  intention  of  restoring  Poland, 
at  Berlin,  Posen,  and  Warsaw,  he  had  received  the 
Galician  deputies,  and  he  himself  had  sent  emissaries 
to  Lithuania. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  Poles  began  to  think  that 
they  had  little  to  expect  from  the  generosity  of  the 
emperor.  The  readiness  with  which,  at  the  Treaty  of 
Tilsit,  Bialystok  had  been  ceded  to  Russia,  led  them  to 
think  that  Napoleon  would  have  sacrificed  the  rest  of 
Prussian  Poland  if  it  had  been  in  his  interest  to  do  so. 
He  demanded  money,  arms,  men,  and  horses,  and  he 
exchanged  for  them  hopes  for  the  future  and  indefinite 
promises.  It  seemed  to  them  as  if  Napoleon  had  a 
high  opinion  of  the  Poles  as  soldiers,  but  a  poor 
opinion  of  them  as  citizens. 

Koscziusko  might  have  had  the  same  opinion,  for  a 
word  from  him  to  his  fellow  countrymen  would  have 
been  worth  an  army  to  the  emperor.  But  the  most 
faithful  friend  of  his  fatherland  remained  silent,  and 
the  most  splendid  promises  of  Napoleon  could  not 
induce  him  to  take  part  in  the  new  creation  of  that 
Polish  duchy. 

If  the  more  cultured  class,  the  one  influenced  by 
the  sentiment  of  nationalism,  love  of  country,  and 
hope  for  its  welfare,  if  this  class  already  felt  itself 
deceived,  the  citizens  and  peasants  felt  only  an  increase 
of  their  misery.  There  is  no  need  of  proof  to  show 
that  the  high  taxes,  the  "  Berlin  Decrees,"  and  the 
instability  of  the  country's  political  existence  were 
disastrous  to  trade.     It  resulted  in  the  partial  ruin  of 


Poland.  i  33 

the  newly-built  shops  and  factories  on  which  Prussia 
had  expended  millions.1 

The  peasant  had  been  proclaimed  free.  The  prin- 
ciple for  which  France  had  fought  so  long  and  so 
successfully,  did  not  allow  its  ruler  to  perpetuate  the 
slavery  of  a  nation.  He  therefore  announced  with 
great  ostentation  the  total  abolition  of  all  bondage. 
"  The  services  and  burdens  of  the  peasant  could  only 
depend  on  a  contract.  House,  farm,  land,  cattle  and 
implements  belong  to  the  lord,  but  the  peasant  is 
absolutely  free." 

The  result  of  this  law  was  that  the  peasant  could  be 
annually  deprived  of  his  place,  and  it  had  to  be 
surrendered  without  any  kind  of  compensation.2  Of 
course,  he  had  the  right  to  emigrate,  and,  outside  of 
his  own  country  the  labour  of  his  hands  would  have 
provided  him  with  a  comfortable  existence  in  the 
lowest  grade  of  society.  But  habit,  poverty,  ignorance, 
and  his  native  tongue  bound  the  unfortunate  man 
quite  as  much  to  his  own  home ;  and  the  only  use  he 
could  make  of  his  freedom  was  that  he  could  leave  a 
place  where  things  went  wrong  with  him,  in  order  to 
betake  himself  to  another  where  he  was  not  destined 
to  be  better  off.  Compared  with  such  freedom,  bond- 
age was  a  boon.  The  wretchedness  of  the  peasantry 
now  first  reached  its  highest  point,  and  the  saying  of 
the  peasant,  "nothing  is  mine  but  what  I  drink  up," 
was  both  a  proverb  and  a  terrible  truth,  for  life  assured 

1  It  is  estimated  that  in  the  year  1800  there  were  1,200,000  sheep 
in  South  Prussia,  that  is,  in  a  country  where  everything  had  to  lie 
imported  at  first.  The  district  of  Warsaw  produced  this  same  year 
•4000  stones  of  wool,  that  of  Kalisch  12,000,  the  department  of 
Posen  42,000  ;  and  yet  the  number  of  the  newly-founded  cloth 
factories  was  so  great  that  this  supply  of  wool  was  not  sufficient  for 
them.     In  the  year  1802  they  finished  145,000  pieces  of  cloth. 

2  V.  Gravenitz,  "  Der  Bauer  in  Poland."  "It  was  the  freedom  of 
the  bird  on  the  roof,  which  flies  away  if  anyone  throws  stones  at 
him." 


i 34  Poland. 

him  no  other  joys  than  the  delusions  of  intoxication, 
and  no  hope  save  that  in  another  world  which  the 
priests  had  promised  him. 

When  in  the  war  of  1812,  which  Napoleon  called  the 
second  Polish  war,  the  general  confederation  at 
Warsaw  proclaimed  the  reconstruction  of  Poland, 
much  was  wanting  to  make  the  enthusiasm  universal. 
Lithuania  had  seen  too  well  the  example  of  the  duchy. 
Its  nobles  had  been  kindly  treated  by  Russia,  they  saw 
themselves  flattered,  their  customs  honoured.  Alex- 
ander also  inspired  them  with  hopes  for  the  reunifica- 
tion of  all  Poland,  in  a  peaceful  manner,  under  the 
sceptre  of  Russia.  France  gave  their  peasants  freedom 
and  demanded  the  greatest  sacrifices.  Its  armies, 
collected  from  ten  nations,  were  devastating  the  land, 
sacking  towns  and  villages,  castles  and  huts,  in  order 
to  keep  themselves  from  starvation,  and  they  were  half 
forced  to  commit  the  greatest  deeds  of  violence.1 

The  duchy  had  made  tremendous  efforts.2  It  had 
raised  and  equipped  an  army  of  more  than  60,000 
men.3  The  expenses  exceeded  one  hundred  millions. 
The  annual  revenue  amounted  to  only  forty  millions. 
The  deficit  of  the  year  1811  was  twenty-one  millions 
of  unpaid  taxes,  which  had  to  be  paid  in  natural 
products.  It  is  true  that  for  the  past  five  years  the 
richest  harvests  had  been  garnered,  but  the  country 
no  longer  had  any  export.  In  the  north  the  "  Berlin 
Decrees  "  had  closed  Danzig  ;  in  the  south  the  Turkish 
war  had  shut  off  Odessa.  In  the  year  1812,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  had  been  a  complete  failure  of  crops. 
The  taxes  were  doubled,  but  no  duties  were  paid  in, 
and  many  landowners  made  their  estates  over  to  the 

1  Compare  "  Histoire  de  Napoleon  et  de  la  grandc  aimee,"  by 
Count  de  Segur. 

2  Compare  "  Histoire  de  l'ambassade  en  Pologne,"  by  Mr.  de 
Pradt. 

3  "  Je  n'ai  vu  personne  !  "  said  Napoleon  on  bis  return  to  War- 
saw. 


Poland.  135 

treasury  commission,  because  the  taxes  could  not  be 
raised.  The  civil  officers  were  not  paid,  and  the  con- 
tractors had  fled.1  The  payment  of  seven  millions 
which  France  owed  for  supplies  was  withheld  with 
worthless  excuses.  The  salt  mines  of  Wieliezka  were 
already  mortgaged  for  twelve  millions.  Napoleon  had 
advanced  the  pay  for  the  army  for  the  month  of  June, 
in  the  month  of  July  it  was  stopped  entirely,  and 
afterwards  no  payment  was  ever  made. 

Meantime  the  French  armies  marched  through  the 
country,  robbed  the  inhabitants,  and  carried  off  the 
peasants  and  horses.  Their  number  was  increasing. 
Well  or  sick  they  had  to  be  fed,  clothed  and  provided 
'with  everything.  Warsaw  was  the  capital,  the 
magazine,  the  hospital,  and  the  ammunition  depot. 
When  the  Durutte  division  entered  the  city,  rations  for 
64,000  men  were  served  out  daily,  and  there  never  had 
been  less  than  6000  dealt  out.2 

Considering  the  history  of  Poland,  as  we  have,  with 
regard  to  its  internal  and  social  condition,  the  episode 
of  the  duchy  of  Warsaw  had  to  be  cited,  not  because  it 
was  an  event  which  promoted  or  established  the  deve- 
lopment of  that  condition,  but  because  it  was  an  inter- 
ruption which  hindered  and  partly  retarded  the  same, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  destroyed  much  that  Prussia 
had  created  at  great  sacrifices. 

While  the  Polish  nation  was  in  the  power  of  three 
such  different  states  as  Austria,  Russia,  and  Prussia,  its 
lot  was  naturally  a  varied  one.  Whatever  we  may 
think  of  the  political  act  which  divided  the  state,  it 


1  A  review,  which  was  fixed  for  the  first  of  November,  1811, 
could  not  take  place,  because  the  soldiers  had  no  shoes. 

2  Yet  Poland  recovered  more  quickly  than  Lithuania.  "Les 
habitans  de  la  Russie  Blanche  et  de  la  Lithuanie  sont  les  seuls 
encore  (1819),  qui  reduits  a  la  miscre  a  la  suite  de  la  campagne  1812, 
n'ayant  ni  manufactures,  ni  commerce,  ni  argent,  attendent  tout  de 
la  providence  et  de  la  bienveillance  de  leur  souverain." — Michel 
Oginski,  "  Mcmoire  sur  la  Pologne." 


136  Poland. 

is  certain  that  in  one  respect  the  greater  part  of  the 
nation  received  immeasurable  benefits  as  regards 
administration,  police,  and  commerce,  since  it  was 
immediately  subdivided  into  states  which  were  far  in 
advance  in  all  these  departments.  And  it  is  certain 
that  it  was  forced  into  a  position  which  the  constitution 
of  the  third  of  May,  1791,  had  it  been  carried  out  and 
actually  continued,  could  never  have  secured  to  it.1 

But,  of  course,  no  one  likes  to  be  forced,  not  even  fco 
be  happy,  and  how  often,  indeed,  an  idea  has  been 
valued  more  than  a  real  advantage. 

Moreover  it  was  impossible  to  plan  a  measure  for 
the  public  good,  which  did  not  in  some  way  oppose  the 
interests  of  the  nobles,  and  for  the  simple  reason  that 
these  nobles  were  already  in  possession  of  all  the 
advantages.  Therefore,  in  case  of  any  of  these  changes 
the  noble  could  only  suffer  for  the  time  being.  But 
these  changes,  which  were  inevitable,  not  only  opposed 
their  interests,  they  also  diminished  their  privileges, 
which  had  become  hallowed  by  two  hundred  years  of 
undisturbed  possession.  And  those  who  now  suffered 
by  the  abolition  of  privileges  usurped  by  their  ancestors 
were  not  guilty.  In  addition  to  this  the  downfall  of  the 
country  was  keenly  felt  by  the  nobility,  the  only  edu- 
cated class  in  Poland,  though  perhaps  only  by  it,  and 
the  interest  and  patriotism  of  the  noble  was  deeply 
wounded,  for  his  feeling  of  nationally  was  uncommonly 
intense. 

It  was  a  difficult  task,  therefore,  for  that  government 
to  watch  and  hold  in  check  this  numerous,  powerful, 
and  influential  class  of  citizens,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  act  on  liberal  principles  ;  and  we  believe  that  these 
facts  must  never  be  disregarded  when  one  is  inclined  to 
criticize  what  happened  on  the  part  of  the  administra- 
tion and  the  opposition  which  it  encountered  secretly 
or  openly. 

1  Compare  F.  J.  Jekel's  "  Analysis  of  the  Constitution  of  May  3rd, 
1791." 


Poland.  157 

In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  way  in  which  the 
different  governments  strove  to  solve  this  problem,  let 
us  next  cite  the  following  measures  referring  essentially 
to  the  Austrian  part  of  the  country,  which  at  the  same 
time  throw  full  light  on  the  state  of  affairs  existing  in 
the  interior. 

First  of  all,  the  nobles  were  ordered  to  remove  all 
cannon  and  ammunition  from  .  the  country,  on  pain  of 
confiscation  (Law  of  April,  1776).  The  sale  of  the 
estates  of  nobles  could  only  be  made  after  an  emigra- 
tion tax  of  ten  per  cent.  (September,  1781),  and 
strangers  not  naturalized  could  not  buy  estates  in  the 
country.  Permission  to  travel  in  foreign  lands  was 
granted  to  those  who  had  reached  their  twenty-eighth 
year.  Those  subjects  who  did  not  spend  half  the  year 
on  their  estates  in  Galicia  had  to  pay  double  taxes, 
(Law  of  1783,  repealed  1790).  The  landowners  were 
compelled  to  lend  their  peasants  corn  for  sowing ; 
where  this  was  not  done  the  peasant  was  provided  with 
corn  by  the  state,  and  this  loan  was  at  once  paid  by 
sequestrating  the  lord's  land  (April,  1787).  The  estates 
had  to  be  surveyed  at  a  great  expense,  and  a  fixed  part 
of  the  costs  was  apportioned  to  each  village  by  a  rural 
tax,  and  the  landowners  sub-collected  it  from  the 
peasants.  The  landlord  was  responsible  for  this  tax 
as  well  as  for  all  oppression  of  subordinates  by  his 
tenants  and  officers  (June,  1784),  etc.1 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  many  of  these  measures, 
while  beneficial  for  the  whole,  must  have  been  severe 
upon  privileged  individuals,  especially  when  they 
attacked  personal  liberty,  and  that  the  nobles,  too, 
could  find  no  compensation,  although  the  woiwodes  and 
starosts  were  raised  to  the  rank  of  counts,  and  the 
deputies  of  the  districts  to  the  extensive  order  of 
Austrian  barons. 

What  the  government  did  for  the  aid  of  commerce 

1  Compare  F.  J.  Jekel  "  Polens  Staatsveriinderung,"  etc. 


13&  Poland. 

and  industry,  both  of  which  had  sunk  so  low,  can  never 
be  misinterpreted.  Already  in  the  year  1809  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  roads  were  constructed  in 
Galicia  alone.  The  wholly  ruined  mining  industry 
was  put  into  active  operation.  The  salt-works  of 
Wieliezka,  which  under  Polish  rule  had  produced 
6,000,000  hundredweight,  under  most  favourable 
circumstances,  produced  in  1809,  17,000,000  hundred- 
weight of  salt,1  and  the  smelting  furnancesof  Jakubeny 
annually  produced  more  than  4000  hundredweight  of 
iron.  The  breed  of  horses  was  also  improved  by 
excellent  studs,  which  supplied  not  only  the  cavalry  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  Austrian  monarchy,  but  large 
numbers  also  were  allowed  to  be  sold  abroad.  In  1817 
Galicia  had  over  311,000  horses.2 

Trade  and  commerce  were  still  mostly  in  the  hands 
of  the  Jews,  who,  as  we  described  them  before,  have 
continued  to  be  what  they  were  in  former  times.  For 
this  reason  and  on  account  of  their  enormous  increase 
this  race  necessarily  became  the  chief  object  of  concern 
to  the  governments,  especially  to  Austria  and  Russia. 

As  the  Jews  marry  when  they  are  scarcely  out  of 
their  teens  they  are  soon  surrounded  by  a  numerous 
family,  and  an  opportune  bankruptcy  is  nothing  less 
than  a  rare  expedient  in  order  to  establish  the  sons-in- 
law.  Their  number  has  increased  therefore  incredibly, 
and  we  may  assume  that  in  every  census  of  the 
population  it  is  put  too  low,  because  the  Jews  still  try 
in  every  way  possible  to  avoid  being  counted. 

The  following  statistics 3  will  convince  one  of  the 
extent  of  their  increase,  especially  in  the  cities. 

1  It  has  been  estimated  that  these  salt-mines  have  produced  the 
enormous  amount  of  550,000,000  cwt.  of  salt  from  the  time  of  their 
discovery  till  the  year  1812. 

2  But  it  had  only  400,000  sheep.  The  Prussian  part  of  the  country 
had  1,200,000  of  them. 

3  "Geographie  de  l'Est  de  l'Europe,"  published  in  1825  at 
Breslau,  by  Stanislaus  Plater. 


Poland.  139 

Posen  contains  25,000  inhabitants,  of  these  5000, 
that  is  one-fifth  of  the  entire  population,  are  Jews. 

Warsaw,  with  130,000  inhabitants,  had  in  the  year 
1807  about  9000  Jews,  in  the  year  1822  these  had 
already  increased  to  27,000,  and  likewise  formed  one- 
fifth  of  the  population. 

Lemberg,  with  50,000  inhabitants,  has  15,000 
Jews,  thus  making  almost  a  third  of  the  population  of 
this  city. 

In  Wilna,  30,000  of  the  50,000  inhabitants  are  Jews, 
that  is  three-fifths;  and  in  Brocly  17,000  of  its  25,000 
inhabitants,  that  is  two-thirds  of  all  its  number  are 
Jews. 

In  the  ojjen  country,  to  be  sure,  the  Jews  are  not  so 
numerous,  yet  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the 
provinces  their  number  is  remarkable. 

The  province  of  Posen  has  980,000  inhabitants,  of 
these  70,000  are  Jews,  that  is  one-fourteenth  of  the 
population.  Galicia  counts  among  its  4,000,000  in- 
habitants 300,000  Jews,  that  is  one-thirteenth.  The 
kingdom  of  Poland  numbered  3,700,000  inhabitants, 
of  whom  one-ninth,  400,000,  are  Jews.  Lithuania, 
Samagitia,  Volhynia,  White  Russia,  Ukraine,  and 
Podolia  have  8,800,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  1,300,000, 
or  one-sixth,  are  Jews. 

The  total  population  of  the  above,  formerly  Polish 
territory,  is  as  follows:  17,480,000  inhabitants,  of 
whom  15,410,000  are  Christians,  2,070,000  Jews. 

According  to  this  the  Jews  form  more  than  the 
eighth  part  of  the  Polish  population,  and  considerably 
exceed  the  number  of  inhabitants  of  kingdoms  like 
Wurtemberg,  Saxony,  or  Denmark.  In  those  pro- 
vinces where  the  Jews  are  least  numerous  every  four- 
teenth person  is  a  Jew,  in  others  every  ninth  ;  in  the 
most  important  cities  of  the  land,  on  the  other  hand, 
every  fifth  man,  at  least,  is  a  Jew,  while  in  a  few  cases 
two  of  every  three  inhabitants  are  Jews. 

If    these    strangers   were  formerly  made  to  reside 


140  Poland. 

outside  of  the  cities  in  the  suburbs,  they  have  now 
made  the  suburbs  the  city.1  Their  district  is  marked 
by  a  kind  of  gate  consisting  of  two  posts  which  are 
joined  by  an  iron  bar,  and  often  the  stone  synagogue 
proudly  towers  above  the  wooden  church,  showily  deco- 
rated within,  but  completely  ruined.  In  the  cities  the 
houses  of  the  Jews  are  also  wretched  huts,  yet  they  are 
better  than  those  of  the  Christians.  Their  costume  is 
the  same  throughout  the  country,  and  is  quite  Oriental, 
flowing  black  garments  fastened  as  far  as  the  waist  with 
many  hooks  and  extending  to  the  ankles,  high  fur  caps, 
worn  even  in  summer,  and  under  them  a  black  cap, 
their  heads  shaved  excepting  two  long  ringlets  on  each 
side,  and  an  unshorn  beard.  They  always  wear  slippers 
except  when  travelling.  This  costume,  the  great 
poverty  of  the  masses,  their  uncleanliness  and  the  death- 
like pallor,  characteristic  of  the  whole  race,  make  their 
appearance  more  striking  than  pleasant. 

All  Jews,  even  those  yet  in  Lithuania,  speak  German, 
a  circumstance  which  is  of  great  convenience  to 
foreigners  who  are  rarely  acquainted  with  the  different 
languages  of  the  country.  The  greater  part  still  speak 
Hebrew,  and  this  ability  to  criticize  in  the  presence  of 
the  lower  classes,  without  being  understood,  gives  them 
a  certain  kind  of  superiority. 

The  stranger  is  amazed  at  the  number  of  these 
people  who  sit  idle  before  their  doors  in  the  sun  and 
converse  with  a  liveliness  of  gesture  and  expression 
peculiar  to  themselves.  Thousands  of  them  are  to  be 
found  at  any  time  without  employment,  and  yet  they 
all  live. 

Those  Jews  Avho  are  artisans  have  gained  posses- 
sion of  the  easiest  and  most  profitable  trades.  They 
are  tailors,    upholsterers,    cabinet-makers,    carpenters, 

1  "  Le  plus  gros  endroit  habitue  par  des  Chretiens  et  des  paysans 
n'est  jamais  repute  qu'un  village,  '  wiez.'  II  suffit  au  contraire 
d'une  douzaine  de  families  juives  pour  en  faire  un  '  miasteczko,' 
petite  ville." — Leonard  Chodzko,  "  Les  Juifs  en  Pologne." 


Poland.  141 

rope-makers,  weavers,  millers,  etc.,  but  above  all  they 
are  watch-makers  and  jewellers.  In  the  large  cities 
they  crowd  round  the  travellers  and  hire  themselves  as 
agents,  a  kind  of  hired  servant,  who  most  punctually 
transact  all  commissions  for  the  very  smallest  com- 
pensation. They  know  or  find  out  everything,  provide 
all  that  is  asked  for,  and  though  their  obtrusiveness  is 
excessively  annoying,  they  are  altogether  indispensable. 

The  inn  everywhere  belongs  to  the  Jews.  The 
Polish  traveller  with  his  excellent  horses,  of  which  he 
usually  drives  five,  makes  very  long  journeys  and  is 
without  choice  as  to  a  place  of  stopping  when  night 
overtakes  him.  The  rich  man  takes  his  own  cook  with 
him,  his  silver  service,  his  Hungarian  wine  ;  everyone 
takes  his  supper,  several  cushions  and  carpets  which 
are  to  be  his  bed,  and  he  takes  even  his  forage. 
None  of  these  things,  of  course,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
inns,  and  the  foreign  traveller  who  does  not  happen  to 
be  equipped  in  this  manner  would  run  actual  risk  of 
starving,  if  every  manor-house  did  not  offer  him  a 
hearty,  hospitable  reception,  which  can  everywhere  be 
counted  on. 

But  far  greater  profits  flow  into  the  hands  of  the 
Jews  from  their  being  the  first  to  put  the  value  upon 
the  produce  of  the  land,  which  they  manage  for  the 
landowner,  or  turn  into  money.  The  mills,  distilleries, 
and  public-houses  are  their  inexhaustible  sources  of 
wealth,  and  the  entire  produce  of  the  estates  passes 
through  their  hands.  The  Jew  who  rents  the  public- 
houses  in  the  village,  is  the  one  from  whom  the 
landlord  derives  his  chief  income.  He  surrenders  to 
this  Jew,  whom  he  knows  he  can  abuse  ill-humouredly 
with  safety,  by  whom  he  knows  himself  to  be  cheated, 
and  with  whom,  however,  he  cannot  dispense — to  this 
one  he  surrenders  the  management  of  his  peasantry 
without  mercy,  and  without  regard  for  the  oppres- 
sions which  such  a  man  will  practise  for  his  own 
advantage. 


142  Poland. 

Through  the  Jew  the  landlord  also  makes  all  his 
purchases,  ignoring  all  Christian  merchants  who,  of 
course,  are  unable  in  any  way  to  compete  with  the 
money-genius  of  this  race.  And  almost  all  the  cash  is 
in  their  hands,  and  the  nobleman  goes  in  debt  for  it 
upon  the  best  part  of  his  estates.  Because  of  the 
multitude  of  Jews,  and  the  important  position  held  by 
this  people  in  the  country,  criticisms  made  by  travellers 
and  writers  upon  their  moral  condition  actually  terrify 
one.  All  methods  are  the  same  to  them  as  long  as 
they  serve  their  purpose.  In  the  campaign  of  1812, 
the  spies  were  Jews,  who  were  paid  by  both  parties, 
and  who  betrayed  both  parties.  In  Wilna  they 
practised  the  most  revolting  cruelties  on  the  un- 
fortunate survivors  of  the  French  army.1  In  nine 
lawsuits  out  of  ten  a  Jew  is  sure  to  be  the  plaintiff  or 
the  defendant.  Since  they  are  acquainted  with  the 
interiors  of  every  house  and  every  family,  they  are  the 
informers  throughout  the  whole  country.2  It  is  very 
rare  that  the  police  detect  a  theft  in  which  a  Jew  is 
not  involved  as  an  accomplice,  or  as  a  receiver  of 
stolen  goods.3  It  is  the  Jews  who  smuggle  and  arm 
the  peasants  to  do  it  by  force,  etc. 

The  Karaites  are  a  notable  exception  ;  they  reject 
the  Talmud  and  hold  to  the  text  of  the  Scriptures. 
They  engage  mostly  in  agriculture  and  keep  themselves 
wholly  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  Jews,  who  are  their 
greatest  enemies.  There  are  between  four  and  five 
thousand  of  this  sect,  who  live  chiefly  in  Lithuania  and 
Volhynia. 

Much  has  recently  been  done  for  the  moral  elevation 
of  the  Jews.  Emperor  Joseph  believed  that  this  race 
was  naturally  no  more  depraved  than  any  other,  that 
it  was  unwilling  to  adjust  itself  to  social  and  civil  life? 

Scgur  "  Histoire  de  Napoleon." 
8  Joseph  Rohrer's  "  Gemiilde  des  osterreichischen  Staates." 
3  Malte  Brun,  "Tableau  de  Polognc." 


Poland.  143 

and  to  fulfil  these  duties,  chiefly  because  it  had  been 
deprived  of  all  the  privileges  and  advantages  of  the 
same.1  Normal  schools  were  built,  which,  despite  all 
opposition,  even  the  girls  had  to  attend.  Without  a 
certificate  of  the  normal  school  no  youth  was  allowed 
to  be  instructed  in  the  Talmud,  no  marriage  could  be 
contracted,  and  no  apprentice  be  freed.  The  religious 
customs  of  their  ancestors  were  perfectly  free,  yet  no 
men  were  allowed  to  many  under  eighteen,  no  women 
under  sixteen.  All  jurisdiction  was  taken  from  the 
Rabbis  and  they  were  not  allowed  to  excommunicate 
anyone.  Fourteen  thousand  Jewish  families  were 
settled  as  agriculturists,  and  the  entire  Jewish  com- 
munity paid  the  costs  of  the  purchase  of  the  land  and 
the  agricultural  implements,  as  well  as  of  the  farm 
buildings. 

In  1792  an  important  law  was  repealed,  namely, 
that  no  Jew  could  dwell  in  the  country  who  was  not  a 
farmer  or  a  mechanic.  However,  they  were  forbidden, 
on  pain  of  banishment,  to  buy  from  the  peasants  the 
unharvested  corn,  the  unborn  cattle  and  the  unshorn 
wool,  things  which  were  usually  sold  for  drink  before- 
hand in  the  taverns.  In  Galicia  the  Jews  are  liable  to 
military  service,  but  they  are  employed  in  the  baggage- 
train,  unless  "  one  voluntarily  wishes  to  use  a  gun." 
In  the  wars  of  1813  and  1815,  over  fifteen  thousand 
Jews  served  under  the  Austrian  flag. 

By  Ukas  of  April,  1827,  the  Russian  Jews  were 
made  liable  to  military  service  ;  the  Prussian,  since 
1817. 

The  most  important  enactment  in  favour  of  the 
peasant  in  Galicia  was  when  Emperor  Joseph,  April 
5th,  1872,  abolished  bondage.  Those  subjects  who 
had  no  houses  were  permitted  at  once  to  leave  their 


1  Compare  v.  Dohni  "Ueber  die  biirgerliclie  Verbesserung  der 
Juden,"  and  on  the  other  hand,  v.  Kortum,  "  Ueber  Judenthum  und 
Juden." 


144  Poland. 

master,  and  were  no  longer  obliged  to  do  "  orphan 
service."  Compelled  services  (Iioboten)  were  con- 
tinued, but  they  were  subjected  to  exact  limitation 
and  arbitrament,  June,  1786. 

The  immaturity  of  the  peasant  is  best  illustrated  by 
the  regulations  passed  for  his  benefit.  It  was  pro- 
hibited to  lend  him  more  than  three  florins  (12 
groschen).  No  one  was  to  give  him  brandy  on  credit. 
Henceforth  peasants  were  not  obliged  to  buy  a  certain 
quantity  of  brandy  from  their  masters,  and  an  attempt 
was  made  to  lessen  the  consumption  of  brandy  by 
establishing  breweries. 

In  Prussia  such  special  laws  were  not  enacted  for 
Polish  subjects ;  the  regulations  enforced  for  all  the 
provinces  were  extended  to  these  also,  a  thing  that 
could  be  done  sooner,  since  the  number  of  Poles  under 
Prussian  rule  was  comparatively  small. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Prussia 
this  monarchy  has  been  chiefly  characterized  by  its 
continuous  though  peaceful  progress,  by  its  unceasing 
development  and  cultivation  of  its  internal  state  of 
affairs,  without  leaps  and  without  revolutions,  methods 
which  have  given  Prussia  a  place  in  the  front  of 
reformation,  of  enlightenment,  of  liberal  institutions, 
and  of  a  reasonable  freedom,  at  least  in  Germany. 

Thus  Prussia  now  received  a  heterogenous  element  in 
the  annexation  of  Poland,  and  the  more  this  addition 
became  necessary  to  the  country's  local  requirements 
the  more  necessary  was  it  to  seek  to  amalgamate  it 
with  the  whole.  The  determined  effort  of  all  the  Poles 
to  preserve  their  nationality  even  amidst  the  dis- 
memberment, and  to  see  therein  the  only  and  last 
guarantee  of  a  possible  reunion,  brought  them,  there- 
fore, at  once  into  conflict  with  the  natural  tendencies 
of  the  administration. 

The  institutions  which  in  Prussia  have  proceeded 
from  the  development  of  the  people  themselves,  were 
in  the   new  province  called   into  life    at  one  stroke. 


Poland.  145 

They  found,  therefore,  neither  the  spirit  nor  the  mind 
of  the  people  ready  for  them.  Wherever  enlightenment 
had  not  prepared  the  "way  for  them,  they  caused 
surprise,  and  the  extension  to  Polish  subjects  of  the 
laws  made  for  the  monarchy  was  for  them  a  veritable 
revolution. 

The  equality  of  all  classes  before  the  law,  and  the 
protection  of  the  law  for  the  very  lowest  class  were 
natural  results  of  the  union  with  Prussia.  Moreover 
this  offered  the  oppressed  peasant  protection  from  ex- 
cessive abuse.  But  as  the  Prussian  country-law  only 
jDrovides  for  the  abatement  of  existing  burdens  when 
a  diminution  of  the  income  has  recently  taken  place, 
for  example,  when  fields  are  flooded  or  sanded,  etc., 
but  a  diminution  is  only  possible  when  there  is  still  an 
income,  the  condition  of  the  peasant  who  had  nothing 
more  to  lose  than  his  life,  was  not  thereby  essentially 
bettered.  Such  a  great  evil  could  not  be  alleviated  by 
ordinary  measures. 

Still  this  was  absolutely  necessary,  for  the  condition 
of  the  peasant  and  the  state  of  agriculture  had  sunk 
to  the  lowest  level. 

Since  the  customary  "  three-field  system "  robbed 
the  land  of  its  strength  annually,  even  under  the 
management  of  the  owner,  how  much  more  must  this 
have  been  the  case  with  a  farmer  who  rented  the  farm 
for  a  year,  and  who  was,  besides,  a  new  hand  on  the 
place. 

As  the  fields  became  wastes,  so  the  dwellings  also 
became  ruins.  The  peasant  did  not  lift  his  hand  to 
prop  up  the  hut,  which  threatened  to  fall  in  upon  his 
head,  and  in  which  he  no  longer  had  any  right  of 
ownership.  It  is  true  that  there  was  abundance  of 
wood,  straw,  lime,  and  stone  everywhere,  and  that 
nature  had  scattered  building  materials  in  the  fields 
also  surrounding  the  wretched  villages,  but  it  never 
occurred  to  the  peasant  to  pick  them  up,  for  he  was 
uncertain  whether  he  would  not  be  obliged  to  leave 

vol.  1.  L 


146  Poland. 

without  compensation  at  the  end  of  a  year's  time  what 
he  had  built  to-day.  No  fruit  orchard,  no  garden 
surrounds  his  house,  for  before  the  fruit  ripens  he  who 
planted  it  is  perhaps  driven  away,  and  there  are  no 
hedges  nor  ditches  nor  fences,  because  there  is  nothing 
to  protect  or  to  enclose.  Even  the  animal  world 
became  stunted  and  crippled,  under  the  curse  of  serf- 
dom. Nowhere  were  there  worse  horses  than  those  of 
the  peasants  in  Poland,  once  celebrated  for  its  fine 
breeds.  This  is  easily  explained,  for  the  common 
peasant  harnesses  the  horse  when  two  years  old,  over- 
Avorks  it  daily,  leaves  it  uncared  for,  and  gives  it  only 
the  worst  kind  of  fodder.  If  the  cattle  of  the  peasant 
dies,  the  landlord  has  to  reinace  it,  because  he  other- 
wise could  not  do  the  work  which  was  due  to  his 
master.  The  landlord  had  to  do  everything ;  he  had 
to  build  anew  the  buildings  which  would  have  stood  a 
long  time  with  slight  repairs  on  the  part  of  the  occu- 
pant, he  had  to  replace  things  that  would  have  lasted 
a  long  time  with  a  little  care  in  using,  he  had  to 
protect  things  which  the  peasant  had  no  interest  in 
protecting.  Bread,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  was  a 
rarity  for  the  peasant  in  the  great  granary  of  Europe, 
and  potatoes  were  his  sole  nourishment.  They  fur* 
nished  him  with  his  daily  food,  and,  unfortunately, 
his  only  drink.  When  the  potato  crop  is  exhausted, 
usually  early  in  the  year,  then  the  peasant  expects  that 
his  landlord  shall  miserably  support  him.  He  begs 
everything  from  his  lord's  kindness,  medicine  for  his 
sickness,  boards  for  his  coffin  and  mass  for  the  salvation 
of  his  soul.  And  such  is  not  the  Polish  peasant  as 
he  was  in  the  middle  ages,  but  as  he  lives  at  this  hour 
in  all  villages,  even  under  Prussian  rule  where  the 
emancipation  has  not  taken  place,1  of  which  we  are 
about  to  speak. 

1  Whoever  has  been  in  Poland,  will  not  find  this  description 
overdrawn  in  any  respect.  The  truth  demands  it  to  be  said,  how- 
ever, that   most  of  the  landlords  do  not  abuse  the  extent  of  their 


Poland.  147 

The  period  of  Prussia's  deepest  external  humiliation 
was  that  of  its  highest  internal  development,  and  from 
the  very  time  it  was  hardest  pressed  by  its  French 
neighbour,  national  and  liberal  institutions  sprang  into 
existence. 

One  of  the  most  important  laws  of  that  epoch  was 
the  edict  of  September  14th,  1811,  the  regulation 
of  relations  between  landoAvner  and  peasant,  which 
was  extended  to  the  province  of  Posen,  after  it  was 
retaken,  and  which  has  already  effected  a  complete 
transformation  in  the  condition  of  the  peasant,  and 
must  continue  to  do  so.  We  must,  therefore,  present 
the  fundamental  principles  of  this  edict.1 

According  to  the  general  principles  of  public  law 
and  political  economy  the  right  of  the  state  to  ordinary 
and  extraordinary  taxes  and  dues  is  paramount,  and 
the  dues  to  the  landlord  are  subject  to  this  limitation, 
that  he  must  leave  the  peasants  means  to  exist,  and  to 
satisfy  the  state. 

In  case  the  taxes  and  dues  to  the  landlord  do  not 
exceed  one-third  of  the  entire  income  of  a  hereditary 
estate,  their  ability  to  do  this  is  taken  for  granted. 

Therefore  the  rights  of  the  landlords  were  never 
greater,  nor  would  they  have  been  allowed  to  be  so  by 
law. 

While  the  above  edict  gave  all  peasants,  small 
farmers,  cottagers,  holders  of  a  hide  of  land,  etc.,  full 
right  of  ownership  over  two-thirds  of  the  land  hitherto 
used  by  them  and  freed  them  from  all  services  and 
statute  labour,  which  up  to  this  time  were  connected 
with  this  use,  it  gave  at  the  same  time  the  landlord  one- 
third  of  these  lands  as  equivalent  compensation.  The 
new  owners  had  to  renounce  all  claim  to  the  obligation^ 
hitherto  fulfilled  by  the  landlords,  namely,  the  repairing 

authority,  and  that  many  treat  these  subjects  so  dependent  upon  them 
with  a  truly  patriarchal  kindness. 

1  Compare  "  Code  for  the  Koyal  Prussian  State,"  Part  I.,  p.  281. 


148  Poland. 

of  buildings,  the  providing  of  agricultural  implements, 
the  liability  for  public  taxes  and  dues,  and  various 
kinds  of  relief  measures  ;  they  assumed  the  payment  of 
taxes  for  their  property  and  the  present  and  future 
communal  taxes.  For  the  purpose  of  rounding  off  and 
enclosing  the  landlord's  estates,  things  very  important 
for  economy's  sake,  he  was  allowed  to  transfer  his 
peasantry  to  other  farms,  provided  he  dealt  out  estates 
of  equal  value  and  the  necessary  new  buildings. 

Instead  of  giving  one-third  of  the  estate  for  compen- 
sation, which  was  regarded  as  the  most  advantageous 
where  farms  exceeded  fifty  acres,  a  settlement  could  be 
effected,  in  case  of  the  smaller  estate,  by  means  of 
capital  or  rent,  the  latter  by  payment  of  one-third  of 
the  entire  sum  in  grain  or  in  money. 

Finally,  such  an  estate  not  hereditary,  which  had 
been  leased  by  the  landlords,  for  certain  services  or 
dues,  a  fixed  number  of  years  or  for  an  indefinite  time, 
was  handed  over  to  the  temporary  possessors  as  their 
property  after  one-half  had  been  ceded  to  the  landlords 
as  a  compensation  for  the  same. 

A  space  of  two,  three,  or  even  six  years,  was  fixed  for 
agreement  upon  such  matters.  Provided  no  under- 
standing had  been  reached  at  that  time,  the  settlement 
was  to  be  made  by  a  committee  of  referees  on  the  part 
of  the  state. 

Such  were  the  principal  features  of  this  remarkable 
law  which,  of  course,  underwent  numerous  modifica- 
tions in  its  execution  and  was  attended  necessarily 
with  great  difficulties,  especially  so  in  the  Polish 
provinces.  The  taxes  were  exceedingly  varied,  in  some 
places  they  did  not  equal  one-third  of  the  income  of 
the  estates,  in  many  they  exceeded  this  proportion. 
Since  the  regulation  of  service,  the  land  had  often  been 
made  decidedly  better  or  worse,  or  new  soil  even  was 
cultivated,  and  the  obligations  of  the  landlords  differed 
greatly  and  were  changed  to  suit  time  and  place.  In 
the  case  of  more  involved  matters  the  more  desirable 


Poland.  149 

an  amicable  agreement,  the  less  was  the  willingness  to 
have  it. 

The  landlords  naturally  looked  upon  the  whole 
measure  as  harsh  and  injurious,  especially  when  they 
gauged  it  by  their  former  privileges.  "  They  com- 
pensate us,"  they  said,  "  with  what  is  already  our 
property  ;  they  increase  the  size  of  our  fields  which  are 
already  too  large,  and  deprive  us  of  the  hands  which 
were  found  to  till  them  for  us.  Even  if  we  were 
willing  to  consider  the  cession  of  one-third  and  one- 
half  of  the  peasant  lands  generally  as  a  compensation,  it 
cannot  be  compared  with  what  we  lose.  The  fields  are 
badly  cultivated,  and,  therefore,  of  little  value.  The 
laziness  and  idleness  of  our  peasants  will  make  labourers 
scarce,  wages  high,  especially  since  they  must  be  paid 
mostly  in  money,  which  is  hard  to  raise.  We  were  not 
burdened  by  the  duties  from  which  we  are  freed  ;  our 
extensive  forests  furnished  us  the  means  to  meet  them. 
The  surveying  of  the  estates,  and  the  special  commis- 
sions, cause  us  great  expense,  and  we  are  exposed  to 
the  exactions  of  subordinates  who  are  always  inclined 
to  take  sides  with  the  peasantry  against  us,  and  this 
too  in  a  matter  where  our  property  depends  on  the 
insight,  impartiality  and  uprightness  of  these  com- 
missions. 

"  But  this  reform  will  be  of  no  avail  to  the  common 
man,  at  least  not  to  our  poor  peasants.1  In  conse- 
quence of  the  tutelage  in  which  he  has  always  lived, 
the  dangerous  right  which  has  been  granted  him  of 
encumbering  his  property  with  debt  and  of  selling  it 
will  bring  about  his  ruin ;  yes,  even  now  the  mere 
prospect  of  this  right  induces  the  greater  part  of  them  to 
mortgage  their  farms  to  the  Jews,  and  it  will  result  in 
their  being  entirely  lost  to  the  owners,  and  placed  m 

1  It  is  true  that  it  was  necessary  in  some  places  to  compel  the 
peasants  to  take  possession  of  their  new  property.  But  this  proves 
nothing  against  the  case.  The  same  thing  occurred  in  France  under 
Louis  IX.     The  serf  cannot  value  freedom  before  he  knows  it. 


150  Poland. 

the  hands  of  a  class  of  men  who  will  not  husband 
them,  but  convert  them  into  an  article  of  merchan- 
dise." 

As  we  have  described  the  relation  of  the  peasant  to 
the  lord,  we  think  that  we  need  not  add  anything  in 
general  about  the  necessity  of  giving  him  assistance,  or 
about  the  justice  of  the  measures  that  have  this  object 
in  view.  But  with  regard  to  their  utility  it  would 
be  well  to  determine  the  point  of  view  from  which  to 
judge  the  reasonableness  or  unreasonableness  of  those 
complaints. 

Until  now  the  great  landowner  had  to  have  his 
immeasurable  fields  cultivated  by  forced  labour;  the 
labourer  took  no  interest  in  the  success  of  his  day's 
work  ;  the  produce  passed  through  the  hands  of  sub- 
ordinates, therefore  it  was  not  possible  for  the  land  to 
be  as  valuable  to  him  as  to  the  small  owner  who 
ploughs,  sows  and  gathers  in  the  harvest,  and  does  not 
allow  the  smallest  piece  of  land  to  be  unused.  He 
alone  can  offer  the  highest  price  for  the  land,  he  can 
offer  four  times  the  amount  it  yields  to  the  great  land- 
owner. From  this  it  is  obvious  how  much  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land  must  be  increased  by  decreasing  the 
extent  of  the  property,  and  by  increasing  the  number  of 
proprietors,  especially  in  a  country  like  Poland,  where 
the  produce  of  the  fields  can  be  increased  so  greatly, 
where  endless  woods,  which  bring  in  nothing,  cover  the 
finest  soil  for  wheat,  and  where  only  labourers  are 
needed  to  make  this  available. 

Agriculture — and  in  this  it  differs  wholly  from 
industry — can  be  brought  to  such  a  height  of  perfec- 
tion that  it  cannot  be  improved  upon,  and  this  height 
has  actually  been  reached  in  several  provinces  of  the 
Prussian  kingdom.  In  Poland,  on  the  other  hand, 
industry  and  activity  have  still  the  greatest  conquests 
to  make. 

The  distribution  of  property  was  the  surest  way  to 
reach  this.     The  peasant  Avas  now  certain  that  he  was 


Poland.  151 

working  for  himself  and  his  family,  that  every  improve- 
ment, even  if  he  did  not  live  to  see  its  result,  was  for 
the  benefit  of  his  children,  among  whom  he  could 
divide  his  property  at  will.  It  was  no  longer  a 
question  of  getting  the  greatest  possible  profits  out  of  the 
land  in  a  short  time,  not  caring  whether  its  fertility 
would  thereby  be  injured,  but  chiefly  of  keeping  the 
property  in  a  good  condition.  Though  day  labour 
cost  more  than  forced  service,  the  former  was  incom- 
parably better.  Agriculture  gained  more  labourers, 
and  the  greater  exertions  of  these  labourers  did  more 
work  than  formerly. 

The  right,  naturally  accompanying  the  lease  of 
property,  to  divide  or  transfer  it,  had  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  freeing  inherited  farms  from  the  burden 
of  debt,  as  the  shares  to  be  paid  out  could  be  acquired 
by  the  sale  of  single  estates.  It  was  the  means  to 
keep  the  estates  free  from  debt.  For  by  selling  a  part 
every  owner  could  hold  his  stock  for  the  other  part. 
Estates  which  would  have  degenerated  in  the  hands  of 
a  poor,  indebted  owner,  passed  by  purchase  into  the 
possession  of  a  prosperous  man,  who  could  keep  them 
in  proper  condition. 

The  state  finally  obtained  a  numerous  and  valuable 
new  class  of  landowners  who,  because  their  interests 
bound  them  to  the  government,  were  trusty  and  faith- 
ful subjects,  a  circumstance  not  to  be  overlooked  in 
this  connection.  A  revolution  could  bring  only  loss  to 
the  new  proprietors,  and,  as  they  formed  the  bulk  of 
the  nation,  they  were  at  the  same  time  increasing  their 
power  to  such  an  extent  as  was  bound  to  furnish  the 
best  guaranty  to  the  government. 

Nowhere  does  the  comparison  between  the  old  and 
new  condition  become  more  manifest  than  in  the  very 
province  of  Posen,  where  the  contrasts  meet,  and 
where  a  few  hundred  steps  bring  the  observer  from 
villages,  such  as  one  would  never  expect  to  find  in 
Europe,  to  others  where  clean  houses  surrounded  with 


152  Poland. 

gardens  and  orchards,  and  fenced  in  with  proper  care, 
delight  the  eye. 

In  this  manner,  within  a  few  years,  the  Prussian 
government  will  effect  complete  enfranchisement  of  the 
peasants,  and  the  conversion  of  a  great  part  of  them 
into  proprietors,  an  undertaking  which  was  long 
thought  to  be  theoretically  impossible,1  and  which  un- 
doubtedly would  have  been  impossible  for  centuries  in 
independent  Poland.  For  where  in  Poland  would  the 
power  of  the  state  have  been  derived  to  encounter  the 
opposition  of  selfish  interest,  though  a  misconceived 
interest  ?  where  the  dominating  authority  which  would 
have  restrained  the  unbridled  passions  ?  Only  under 
the  sovereignty  of  a  state  firmly  established  and 
already  far  advanced,  like  Prussia,  could  such  a 
measure  be  accomplished  without  involving  the 
country  in  a  revolution  and  in  the  most  violent  re- 
actions. 

So  much  was  done  in  Prussia  for  the  peasant. 
Schools  were  founded  to  educate  the  people,  shops  and 
factories  established  to  encourage  commerce,  and  new 
impetus  was  given  to  trade  by  the  abolition  of  the 
restrictions  upon  trade. 

Neither   Russia  nor  Austria   was    able   to   venture 

1  Mably  (in  his  work,  "Du  gouvernement  et  des  lois  de  la  Pologne") 
and  J.  J.  Rousseau  ("Sur  le  gouvernement  de  Pologne  "),  planned  a 
constitution  for  the  nation,  in  which  they  forgot  the  nation.  Of  the 
peasants,  that  is,  of  fi  of  them,  the  latter  says :  "Je  ne  crains  pas 
seulement  l'interet  mal  entendu,  l'amour  propre  et  les  prejugcs  des 
maitres,  je  crandrai  les  vices  et  la  lachete  des  serfs."  Mably  calls 
them  "  une  classe  d'hommes  abrutis  et  malheureux."  Stanislaus 
Leszczynski  judges  his  fellow-countrymen  differently  :  "  qu'ils  (les 
paysans)  jouissent  d'une  partie  de  nos  immunites,  l'etat  n'aura  peut- 
ctre  point  de  membres  plus  utiles.  Qu'ils  puissent  s'unir  entre  eux 
par  un  trafic  mutuel,  qu'ils  n'ayent  plus  a  craindre  les  vexations  de 
leurs  maitres,  les  insultes  des  soldats,  le  mepris,  les  outrages  de  la 
noblesse,  qu'ils  ayent  des  morceaux  ■  de  terre  des  maisons  oil  ils 
puissent  vivre  en  surete,  qu'ils  puissent  laisser  a  leurs  enfans  les 
acquisitions  qu'ils  auront  faites — alors  nous  croirons  vivre  dans  une 
autre  terre  et  sous  un  autre  ciel." 


Poland.  153 

upon  so  thorough  a  reform  as  the  affranchisement  of 
the  mass  of  the  people  in  their  Polish  provinces,  both 
on  account  of  the  grade  of  development  of  these  states 
themselves,  and  of  the  principles  which  their  govern- 
ments pursue,  and  on  account  of  the  numerical  pro- 
portion of  Polish  subjects  to  their  own.  For  while 
the  population  of  the  Prussian  state  amounted  to 
twelve  millions,  that  of  Poland  was  scarcely  one 
million.  In  Austria,  on  the  other  hand,  which  had 
about  twenty-eight  million  inhabitants  (of  whom,  by 
the  way,  only  five  and  one  half  millions  were  German) 
the  four  million  Polish  subjects  made  one-seventh  of 
the  entire  population.  In  Russia  thirteen  million 
Poles  x  were  added  to  the  forty  million  souls  that  form 
the   population   of    Russia   in    Europe,    that    is,    the 

1  The  disposition  not  to  count  the  Lithuanians,  minor  Russians, 
etc.,  among  the  number  of  Poles,  does  not  seem  to  be  sustained  by 
history. 

Both  Russians  and  Poles  are  branches  of  the  Slavonic  main 
trunk,  and  this  kinship  is  recognized  also  in  their  languages.  But 
throughout  Poland  proper,  the  same  language  is  spoken  by  all  the 
people,  even  by  tbe  common  people,  for  there  is  no  dialect  or 
patois,  and  genuine  Polish  is  the  same  in  all  Poland.  One 
universal  Russian  language,  on  the  other  hand,  which  would  be 
spoken  throughout  the  country,  exists  no  more  than  one  Slavonic 
language.  The  prevailing  language,  the  one  commonly  under- 
stood by  Russians,  has  a  Slavonic  origin,  and  sprang  from  the 
fusion  of  Slavonic  settlers  with  Ostiaks,  Petscharians,  Tartars,  etc., 
about  the  year  1114.  It  has  thus  become  essentially  different  from 
its  half  sister,  the  Polish.  Slavonic  by  origin,  moreover,  are  the 
rest  of  the  dialects  which  are  spoken  in  the  White,  Red,  and  Black 
Russias,  and  as  they  remained  unmixed,  they  are  much  more  like 
the  Polish  than  the  Russian,  and  must  pass  as  dialects  of  the  former 
rather  than  as  branches  of  the  latter. 

As  for  the  Lithuanians,  they  were  originally  as  little  related  to 
the  Russians  as  to  the  Poles,  for  they  were  originally  Herulian. 
During  the  thirteenth  century  this  race  was  subdued  in  Prussia  by 
the  German  knights  ;  in  Livonia,  by  the  knights  of  the  order  of  the 
sword  ;  only  Lithuania  remained  independent,  as  it  joined  itself 
closer  to  the  Slavic  races,  and  so  the  Lithuanians  also  soon  adopted 
the  Polish  language,  and  moreover  the  common  people  the  dialect 
of  the  White  Russians,  the  educated  the  pure  Polish.     Even  the  old 


154  Poland. 

Poles  form  one-third  of  the  entire  population,  and 
in  comparison  with  Russia  they  occupied  a  small 
territory,  and,  excepting  their  government,  they  were 
a  step  in  advance  of  the  Russians. 

names  of  the  rivers  and  cities  were  exchanged  for  new  Polish  names 
(Wilna,  for  example,  was  once  Neri). 

So  in  Lithuania  the  peculiar  Herulian  language  was  lost,  and  only 
traces  of  it  are  found  to-day  in  a  few  small  villages.  Both  it  and 
chiefly  the  Samitian  customs  have  been  retained  to  a  greater  extent 
under  German  rule,  that  is,  in  Samogitia,  and  the  Samites  even  to 
this  day  preserve  an  individuality  differing  from  that  of  all  their 
neighbours.  One  is  amazed  to  hear  the  language  of  the  Greeks  and 
Scythians,  of  the  Romans  and  Skandinavians  re-echoing  on  the 
lips  of  a  nation  which  hardly  knows  the  world's  history.  The 
similarity  of  many  words  of  the  Samitian  language  as  well  as  of 
their  inflections  to  those  of  the  languages  already  mentioned,  is  sur- 
prising, and  almost  the  only  possible  explanation  is  the  existence  of 
an  original  language  (Japhetese  language)  of  which  the  Slavic, 
Germanic,  Celtic,  Romance,  etc.,  themselves  are  only  branches. 

We  cite  a  few  illustrations  from  a  large  list  (compare  "  Tableau  de 
la  Pologne,"  edition  of  Chodzko  1830,  Tome  I.,  chap.  XIII.  De  la 
langue  lithuanienne). 

Lithuanian,  menu  ;  Greek,  niene  ;  Danish,  maane  (moon). 

,,  ugnis  •  Latin,  ignis  (fire). 

„  wandu  ;  Danish,  vand  (water). 

„  nactis  (night). 

„  sunus  (son). 

„  wiras  ;  Latin,  vir  (man). 

,,  ductie  ;  Greek,  thygater  ;  English  (daughter). 

„  brotis  ;  Danish,  broder  (brother). 

„  dantis  ;  Latin,  dens  (tooth). 

„  nosis  ;  Latin,  nasus  (nose). 

„  alminti  ;  Danish  adminde  {remind). 

The  remarkable  agreement  in  declension  with  that  of  the  classic 
tongue  may  be  illustrated  by  the  conjugation  of  the  verb  "  to  be." 

Ach  essu,  i"  am.  mess  essam,  we  are. 

tu  essi,  thou  art.  ius  essat,  you  arc. 

ance  ir  (Danish  han,  er)  he  is.  ani  ari,  they  are,  etc. 

Also  the  customs  of  the  Samites,  as  they  partly  exist  to-day, 
frequently  recall  those  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  To  this  day,  for 
example,  the  bride  is  carried  away  by  two  friends  of  the  bridegroom 
before  the  marriage  is  celebrated.  On  the  wedding-day  she  is  blind- 
folded, and  conducted  to  each  door  of  her  house,  honey  is  laid  upon 


Poland.  155 

At  the  Vienna  Congress  the  part  of  the  quondam 
duchy  of  Warsaw  which  fell  to  the  share  of  Russia  was 
raised  to  an  independent  kingdom,  and  after  it  was 
joined  to  Russia  by  a  constitution  it  was  to  have  its 
own  government. 

The  chief  objection  of  all  the  Poles  to  the  creation  of 
this  kingdom  was,  that  only  three  millions  were  united 
by  it,  while  the  unequal  and  greater  number  of  their 
countrymen  were  ruled  by  ukases  and  were  kept 
separate  from  the  rest.1 

But  if  this  establishment  of  an  actual  Polish  state 
seemed  to  the  Poles  a  thing  too  small,  it  was  regarded 


her  lips,  and  wheat  scattered  over  her.  Girls  cut  off  the  hair  of  the  new 
hride,  and  beat  her  as  they  lead  her  to  her  bridal  bed.  The  funeral 
obsequies  to  which  the  spirits  of  the  departed  are  invited,  the  inter- 
ment in  hills,  and  the  name  of  the  first  deity,  Auxtea  visa  geist 
(Danish  hoieste  vise  geist),  supreme  wise  spirit,  vividly  recall  the 
Skandinavian  custom  and  language. 

We  have  allowed  ourselves  to  make  this  digression  because  it  is  a 
question  whether  Russia  has  three  or  thirteen  millions  of  Polish 
subjects,  and  whether  Austria  rules  over  Poles  or  Russians  in  Galicia. 
If  the  Lithuanians  are  not  at  all  related  to  Russia  by  ancestry,  if 
not  allied  to  the  Poles  by  language,  one  does  not  understand  why 
fifty  years  of  Russian  rule  ought  to  have  made  them  more  Russian 
than  four  centuries'  union  with  the  republic  of  Poland  made  them 
Poles. 

1  It  may  be  observed  at  this  point  that  complaints  about  this,  if 
they  really  were  made,  ought  to  have  been  louder  in  Lithuania  than 
in  Poland  where  utterance  was  given  to  them.  Michael  Oginski, 
however,  explains  this  riddle,  Tome  IV.,  chap.  VI.  p.  234.  During 
an  audience  given  in  November,  1815,  hence  at  a  time  after  the 
kingdom  had  been  recognized  by  all  Europe,  he  complained  to  the 
Emperor :  "  Qu'il  n'est  pas  permis  a  Wilna  de  faire  mention  du 
royaume  de  Pologne.  Personne  dans  la  socictc  n'ose  prononcer  le 
nom  de  Pologne  ou  de  Polonais ;  et  l'organisation  du  nouveau 
royaume  est  aussi  peu  connue  chez  nous,  que  si  nous  etions 
eloignes  de  mille  lieues  de  Varsovie." 

"  Je  ne  savais  pas  un  mot  de  cela,"  repondit  l'empereur  avec 
beaucoup  de  vivacite,  "mais  un  trait  de  plume  va  changer,"  etc. 
"  J'ecrivais  a  Korsakow  combien  je  suis  ctonne  du  secret  qu'on  garde 
et  du  secret  qu'on  fait  a  Wilna  do  l'existcnce  d'un  royaume  que  toutc 
l'Europe  recommit." 


156  Poland. 

by  the  Russian  party  also  as  a  thing  too  great.  To  the 
former  it  was  far  less  a  guarantee  of  their  freedom  than 
to  the  latter  a  hindrance  which  stood  in  the  way  of  all 
the  government's  measures,  even  at  times  when  it 
might  sincerely  have  the  best  of  intentions.  One  must 
not  forget  that  Poland  was  indebted  to  the  emperor  for 
the  retention  of  its  name,  its  language,  even  its 
nationality,  to  that  emperor  against  whom  it  armed 
itself  up  to  the  last  moment ;  although  it  seemed  that 
complete  union  or  complete  separation  of  all  Poland 
would  necessarily  have  been  preferable  to  this  middle 
course. 

The  union  of  Poland  with  another  state  revealed,  as 
nothing  else,  the  peculiar  affairs  of  this  state  itself. 
Russia's  ruler  was  the  king  whom  they  purposed  to 
bind  by  a  constitution  which  he  had  the  power  to 
violate  at  any  moment,  and  often,  of  course,  it  was 
for  his  interest  to  do  so.  Russian  noblemen  still 
estimated  their  wealth  according  to  the  number  of 
their  bond  peasants,  and  could  therefore  regard  only 
with  fear  the  approaching  freedom  of  the  peasant  in 
the  neighbouring  state.  In  Russia  itself  the  greatest 
reforms  were  necessary,  and  the  development  of  this 
state  delayed  that  of  Poland.  Finally,  Russia  could 
not  grant  Poland  commercial  advantages  Avhich  it  itself 
needed,  for  trade  still  depended  upon  Prussia,  and  the 
Augustow  Canal  could  not  take  the  place  of  the 
Vistula. 

If  at  the  very  beginning  governor  and  governed 
met  each  other  with  distrust  and  hostile  reminiscences, 
the  administration  of  the  government  by  strangers  or 
by  officials  who  were  supported  by  strange  authority, 
aroused  great  bitterness.  Attacks  upon  personal  liberty 
and  loss  of  nationality  that  had  been  conceded  once  by 
arrogant  rulers,  were  deeply  and  universally  felt. 

As  regards  administrative  affairs,  Poland  received 
from  Russia  those  institutions  which  all  other  civilized 
countries  in  Europe  had  possessed  for  centuries,  and 


Poland.  157 

which  had  been  held  back  only  by  the  endless  dis- 
turbances of  the  diets  and  the  wars  consequent  upon 
them.  These  included  a  well-ordered  system  of  nuance, 
credit,  and  mortgage,  a  postal  system,  a  well-organized 
army,  constructed  roadways  and  canals,  a  university 
and  library  at  Warsaw,  and  several  essential  arrange- 
ments of  the  same  class. 

The  establishment  of  shops  and  factories  was  en- 
couraged, and,  as  the  importation  of  foreign  goods  was 
forbidden,  these  soon  acquired  a  considerable  degree  of 
prosperity  and  excellence.  Indeed,  Poland  exported 
a  large  number  of  goods  through  Russia  to  China. 
By  this  means  also  the  Pole  bought  at  forty  per 
cent,  dearer  at  home  than  abroad,1  which  was  more 
expensive  for  the  landowner  since  the  price  of 
produce  continued  to  be  very  cheap,  both  on  account 
of  lack  of  communication  by  land  and  water,  and 
especially  because  a  disproportionately  small  part  of  his 
produce  was  consumed  at  home.  Industry  was  created 
through  the  colonization  of  foreigners,  principally 
Germans,  by  no  means  did  it  proceed  from  the  people 
themselves.  The  common  people  lacked  the  capital, 
liberty,  and  intelligence  required  for  undertakings  of 
that  sort.  Besides,  great  and  oppressive  privileges2 
were  extant,  which  prevented  the  people  from  taking 
part  in  manufacture  and  trade,  and  made  the  manu- 
factures dear  and  poor  in  quality.  Moreover,  a  few 
prosperous  manufacturers  and  merchants  were  unable 
to  constitute  the  middle-class  of  a  nation,  and  in  this 
respect  there  was  and  continued  to  exist  a  want  that 
was  not  supplied. 

Nothing  was  done  for  the  good  of  the  peasant.     He 

1  One  frequently  saw  Polish  landowners  going  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  to  purchase  cheaper  and  better  clothes  in  the  frontier  towns  of 
Prussia. 

2  In  return  for  a  large  loan  to  the  government,  for  example,  a 
rich  Jew  had  exclusive  right  to  sell  tobacco  in  the  whole  kingdom, 
and  brandy  in  Warsaw. 


158  Poland. 

was,  of  course,  nominally  free,  but  in  reality  without 
property,  bound  to  forced  service,  and,  on  the  whole, 
in  the  same  wretched  condition  as  we  saw  him  before. 
The  only  way  to  aid  him  was  to  loan  him  property, 
but  this  also  was  attended  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
The  government  had  to  pause  before  giving  the  noble- 
man, already  displeased  with  the  encroachment  upon 
his  rights,  so  much  cause  for  dissatisfaction,  which,  in 
this  case,  could  easily  have  been  transferred  to  Russia 
itself.  Besides,  the  Polish  peasant  was  not  yet  ready 
for  proprietorship.  Nothing  but  time  and  education 
could  lend  aid  here,  and  the  founding  of  schools  was 
necessarily  the  first  step  and  the  chief  aim  of  the 
government  in  order  to  gain  for  itself  support  among 
the  mass  of  the  people — and  this  the  sooner  since  it 
seemed  impossible  to  gain  for  itself  the  nobility  of 
Poland. 

Let  it  not  be  imagined  that  we  intend  to  claim  that 
the  peasant  of  the  duchy  of  Posen  is  more  advanced  in 
culture,  and  more  prepared  for  proprietorship  than  the 
one  in  the  kingdom.  But  with  eleven  millions  of 
German  subjects,  who  were  connected  to  the  person  of 
their  landlord  by  speech,  customs,  interests,  a  part  of 
them  by  long  acquaintance  with  the  government,  and 
all  by  a  rare  kind  of  confidence  and  universal  love, 
with  such  an  element  of  stability  much  could  be  under- 
taken that  would  have  been  a  failure  under  other 
circumstances. 

But,  through  the  purchase  of  the  national  estates,  the 
lot  of  the  Polish  peasantry  in  the  kingdom  was  still 
worse,  for  the  new  owners,  without  government  inter- 
ference, deprived  the  peasant  of  the  more  important 
rights  previously  possessed  by  him  upon  these  estates. 

From  the  very  moment  when  public  opinion  in 
Poland  declared  itself  against  the  government,  every 
avenue  to  participation  in  public  matters  was  closed  to 
the  young  Pole.  Necessity  alone  forced  him  to  serve  as 
an  officer  in  an  army  which  he  looked  upon  as  an  instru- 


Poland.  159 

ment  of  oppression.  Scientific  instruction  was  avoided 
either  because  students  were  watched  and  guarded  in  a 
dishonourable  manner,  or  because  every  position  in  the 
civil  offices  was  looked  upon  as  dependent  upon  a 
government,  which  from  its  very  tendency  did  not 
allow  itself  to  be  united  with  proper  sentiments  towards 
the  fatherland,  and  often  because  of  a  feigned 
patriotism  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  distaste  for 
solid,  positive  studies.  The  result  was  that  the  Pole 
felt  a  kind  of  contempt  for  any  of  their  countrymen 
who  accepted  a  position  from  the  government,  without 
considering  that  in  this  very  way  the  country,  should 
it  once  be  left  to  care  for  itself,  would  by  necessity  be 
without  good  officers  and  useful  business-men  in  all  its 
departments. 

Oppression  at  home  drove  the  Pole  to  seek  freedom 
abroad.  Early  years  were  passed  in  travelling,  which 
otherwise  are  devoted  to  study,  and  Paris  was  the 
rendezvous  where  most  of  the  young  men  of  this  nation 
received  a  superficial  education,  where  they  adopted 
lofty  views  corresponding  to  their  condition  and  their 
age,  and  then,  full  of  life  and  desire  to  work,  they 
returned  to  their  country  and  to  perfect  indolence. 

The  wealthy  man  sought  at  his  country  seat  the 
only  round  of  business  in  which  he  did  not  have  to 
humiliate  himself  before  a  hated  government,  and  where 
he  had  hopes  of  escaping  its  distrust  and  arbitrariness. 
There  now  he  assembled  a  great  number  of  poor 
fellow-countrymen,  who  had  no  bread  because  they 
filled  no  offices,  and  whose  patriotism  or  incapacity 
gave  them  a  right  to  the  support  of  the  rich.  When — 
and  partly,  by  this  very  means — the  rich  man  himself 
became  poor,  and  passed  from  the  number  of  the 
hospitable  to  the  number  of  those  who  live  from 
hospitality,  then  Russia  gained  another  new  enemy 
glowing  with  rage,  who  never  ceased  to  ascribe  his  ruin 
and  every  misfortune  in  general  to  the  government  and 
to  the  subjection  of  his  country. 


160  Poland. 

Thus  from  day  to  day  increased  the  number  of  young 
men  from  the  educated  classes,  who,  full  of  attachment 
to  their  nationality,  were  fired  with  ardent  hatred 
against  Russia,  men,  who  had  much  to  win,  and  almost 
nothing  more  to  lose.  Perhaps  it  is  more  characteristic 
of  the  Poles  than  of  any  other  people  to  let  their 
ill-humour  escape  in  talk.  But  now  when  an 
excessively  severe  censorship  watched  every  written 
thought,1  and  numerous  agents  of  the  police  guarded 
every  harangue,  when  the  Poles  saw  themselves 
surrounded  on  every  side  by  spies,  or  thought  so,  they 
were  actually  driven  into  secret  conspiracies,  and, 
because  they  themselves  did  not  dare  openly  to  express 
an  innocent  thing,  they  committed  the  most  guilty  acts 
secretly.  There  was  a  general  confederation  of  almost 
all  Poles  far  and  wide,  not  only  at  home,  but  through- 
out all  Europe  ;  dissatisfaction  with  the  government 
and  hatred  of  its  officials,  were  the  counter-sign  of  all 
of  them ;  imprisonment  on  account  of  free  speech 
became  a  martyrdom  in  the  opinion  of  others,  an  act 
showing  hate  for  the  nation  was  of  itself  a  merit  in 
the  eyes  of  beauty,  and  the  favour  of  women  spurred 
men  on  to  resist  the  law. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  November,  1830,  a  handful  of  students  and 
subordinate  officers  started  a  revolt  in  Warsaw,  which 
rapidly  spread  over  all  Poland,  and  a  part  of  Russia, 
for  an  instant  overthrew  the  government,  and  in  a  few 
days  forced  the  Russian  troops  to  leave  the  country. 

If  such  an  insignificant  cause  produced  such  a 
frightful  result,  it  could  be  onlv  because  the  action  of 
these  young  students  was  nothing  else  than  the  spark 
that  fell  into  a  heap  of  combustibles  of  dissatisfaction, 

1  The  Polish  Revolution  of  1830  is  the  only  one  of  recent  times  to 
which  the  press  cannot  be  charged  with  having  given  assistance, 
unless  it  be  charged  with  excessive  reticence.  For  since  even  the 
most  moderate  expression  of  dissatisfaction  was  forbidden,  Poland 
passed  directly  from  dissatisfaction  to  revolution. 


Poland.  t6i 

and  the  explosion  would  have  been  caused  just  as 
easily,  sooner  or  later,  by  any  other  accident. 

Obviously  the  interests  of  mill-owners,  manufacturers, 
and  merchants,  in  short,  of  all  those  belonging  to  the 
middle  class,  were  wholly  opposed  to  such  a  revolution, 
and  during  its  entire  duration  they  were  actually  its 
opponents,  but  Ave  have  already  seen  that  this  middle 
class  continued  to  be  of  little  weight  in  Poland. 

The  peasant  was  a  disinterested  observer,  but  by 
no  means  unconcerned.  Famine,  disease,  abuse,  and 
devastation,  were  the  lot  which  fell  to  him  on  this  as 
on  all  similar  occasions.  But  he  had  as  little  to  hope  1 
from  the  government  as  from  his  landlord,  and  did 
what  man  oppressed  by  slavery  always  does,  he  suffered 
patiently. 

It  was  the  nobleman  that  aroused  this  storm,  and 
what  he  was  able  to  do  in  a  country  where  the  educated 
class  and  the  nobility  are  still  one  and  the  same,  Russia 
now  learned  in  the  deadly  struggle. 

The  fires  of  this  revolt  are  at  this  moment  being 
quenched  with  blood  on  the  very  fields  of  Wola,  which 
formerly  witnessed  the  elections  of  kings,  the  splendour 
and  power  of  the  Polish  nation.  Poland  has  been 
conquered  with  the  sword  in  its  hand,  and  it  has  no 
right  to  dictate  conditions  to  the  conqueror.  But  the 
same  young  emperor  of  whom  history  has  to  record 
such  extraordinary  deeds  in  the  few  years  of  his 
sovereignty,  at  whose  ascendency  a  terrible  insurrection 
was  suppressed  by  his  personal  stability,  rather  than  by 


1  The  Polish  noblemen  have  been  blamed  for  not  having  freed  their 
peasants,  in  order  to  make  the  revolution  national.  But  what  was 
this  freedom  to  consist  of  ?  Bondage  did  not  exist ;  for  the  most  part, 
the  personal  privileges  of  the  lords  were  limited  humanly  by  civiliza- 
tion itself.  And  if  it  will  be  imputed  as  sacrifice  enough  for  the 
landlord  to  furnish  the  peasant  with  property  at  his  own  cost,  it 
must  be  conceded  that  that  moment  when  all  bonds  were  loosed  was 
the  most  unfavourable  one  for  the  government  to  perform  an  act 
which  it  had  not  dared  to  undertake  even  in  a  time  of  peace. 

VOL.    I.  M 


1 62  Poland. 

anything  else,  before  whose  presence  the  crescent  in 
Persia  as  well  as  in  Turkey  is  prostrated,  who  himself 
hastened  to  the  infected  capital  city  to  aid  his  suffering 
people,  this  emperor  has  the  power  to  make  of  Poland 
what  it  is  to  be  in  Europe  in  future  time. 

From  the  very  beginning  the  most  striking  con- 
tradictions have  marked  the  career  of  this  people, 
among  whom  the  republic  was  combined  with  the 
kingdom,  the  splendour  of  the  throne  with  the  impotency 
of  the  ruler.  We  find  the  officers  of  the  state  rich 
and  the  republic  poor,  the  general  of  the  crown  power- 
ful and  the  army  feeble.  Excessive  luxury  goes  hand 
in  hand  with  naked  poverty.  Wildest  courage  and 
noisiest  resistance,  schooled  by  necessity  to  yield,  are 
changed  into  docile  submissiveness  and  speedy  recon- 
ciliation. Bribery,  treachery  and  fraud  are  contrasted 
Avith  the  greatest  bravery  and  patriotism,  and  the  most 
herioc  endurance  of  suffering.  The  history  of  the  country 
shows  us  characters,  that  would  have  been  resplendent 
in  Greece  or  Rome,  alongside  of  traitors  and  perjurers, 
it  shows  the  noble,  generous  brother  who  is  the 
law-giver  and  defender  of  his  people,  beside  the 
fierce,  savage  brother  who  leads  foreign  armies  against 
his  own  home ;  it  shows  a  father,  who  drew  upon 
himself  the  curse  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  posterity, 
and  a  son  who  wiped  away  the  guilt  of  the  father  with 
his  own  possessions,  and  his  own  blood.  Yes,  truly, 
inconsistencies  are  commingled  in  one  and  the  same 
character,  and  we  are  amazed  to  behold  men  that  have 
fought  with  great  distinction  among  their  confederates 
finally  offering  themselves  as  ready  instruments  of  op- 
pression. The  same  names  which  Poland  honours  as  its 
protectors  are  enumerated  among  the  number  of  its 
foes. 

Excess  of  freedom,  and  excess  of  slavery  have 
destroyed  independent  Poland,  but  in  its  very  ruins  it 
preserves  the  fusion  of  its  resistant  forces.  A  con- 
stitutional  state  whose   king  is   absolute   monarch  of 


Poland.  163 

forty  millions  of  Russians,  enormous  wealth  and  over- 
whelming poverty,  a  fertile  soil  and  untilled  fields, 
magnificent  palaces  surrounded  by  the  most  wretched 
hovels  ever  inhabited  by  human  beings,  such  we  behold 
Poland,  the  state,  which  was  founded  upon  perfect 
equality  of  all  men,  till  this  very  day  the  land  of  in- 
equality, of  contrasts,  and  contradictions. 


M  2 


THE  WESTERN    BOUNDARY. 


PEE FACE. 


The  following  essay  published  in  the  second  number  of  the  "  Deut- 
schenViertdjdhrsschrift"  l  1841,  theoretically  discusses  a  question  to 
which  the  author  was  to  be  called  upon  to  help  work  out  a  practical 
answer  thirty  years  later  in  so  glorious  a  manner.  This  circum- 
stance alone  makes  the  essay  valuable  to  the  reader  of  to-day,  but  still 
more  so  the  fact  that  much  of  the  argument  may  be  applied,  in  a 
really  surprising  manner,  to  the  present  itself  as  well  as  to  the  year 
1840. 

At  that  date,  1840,  Thiers,  as  minister  of  King  Louis  Philippe, 
piqued  by  the  defeat  which  France  had  suffered  in  the  Oriental 
question,  and  through  the  quadruple  alliance  of  the  great  powers  for 
the  protection  of  the  Sultan,  had  openly  declared  that  France  must 
seek  satisfaction  from  Germany,  and  must  demand  the  left  bank  of 
the  Ehine.  The  general  patriotic  indignation  in  Germany,  which 
found  popular  expression  in  Becker's  song  of  the  Ehine :  "  Sie  sollen 
ihn  nicht  haben,"  in  combination  with  the  peaceful  inclination  of 
Louis  Philippe,  caused  the  downfall  of  the  minister.  Once  again, 
however,  it  became  only  too  manifest  how  the  French  nation,  which 
had  rejoiced  at  the  claims  of  Thiers,  had  allowed  itself  to  be  deceived 
in  its  desire  for  the  German  frontier.  The  present  essay  illustrates  the 
vanity  of  this  desire  with  inexorable  logic,  and  a  conscientious  regard 
for  historical  facts. 


1  The  review  "  Deutsche  Vierteljahrsschrift,"  was  published  from  1841  till 
1870,  by  J.  G.  Cotta  in  Stuttgart  and  was  one  of  the  first  of  German  reviews 
as  long  as  it  continued  to  exist.  Among  its  contributors  were  the  most 
famous  scientists  and  prominent  military  leaders,  like  Moltko  and  Ponitz. 


THE   WESTERN    BOUNDARY. 


Since  in  France  the  claims  on  the  boundary  of  the 
Rhine  are  traditional,  and  since  these  on  every  occasion 
and  with  the  approval  of  all  parties,  are  made  to  appear 
as  if  France  has  to  recall  an  ancient  valid  privilege 
which  Germany  retains,  to  redress  a  heavy  loss  which 
Germany  inflicts  upon  it,  to  restore  the  natural  bound- 
aries which  Germany  has  broken  through  in  an  un- 
natural and  unlawful  manner ;  since  this  is  the  domi- 
nant conviction  in  France,  and  since  not  only  ambitious 
ministers,  like  Thiers,  and  young  republicans,  but  also 
loyal  peers,  like  the  Duke  of  Noailles,  and  gentle  poets, 
like  Lamartine,  have  loudly  and  equally  bona  fide  given 
utterance  to  the  same  opinion,  it  is  high  time  to  submit 
these  French  claims  once  for  all  to  a  purely  historical 
examination.  We  shall  be  as  brief  as  possible,  yet  we 
must  turn  to  the  history  of  early  times,  pretty  far  back, 
in  order  to  establish  clearly  the  boundary  relations  of 
France  to  Germany. 

The  Gauls,  who  formerly  inhabited  the  country  now 
called  France,  were  conquered  by  the  great  Caesar 
about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  before  Christ,  and 
their  entire  country  was  incorporated  in  the  Roman 
Empire.  For  five  hundred  years  they  continued  to 
be  subjects  of  the  Roman  Caesars,  they  accepted  the 
language,  customs,  religion,  science,  and  art  of  the 
Romans,  and  at  the  same  time  all  the  vices  of  the  later 
period  of  the  empire.  In  the  same  epoch  in  which 
Gaul    was    subjugated   by   the    Romans,    the   ancient 


170  The  Western  Boundary. 

Roman  republic  came  to  an  end  and  the  despotic  and 
gradually  degenerating  government  of  the  emperors 
began.  At  the  end  of  this  epoch  Gaul  shared  the 
misery  of  slavery  and  the  worst  demoralization  with  all 
the  other  Roman  provinces.  Ecclesiastical  and  profane 
writers  of  that  period,  whose  works  have  been  preserved 
for  us,  vie  with  one  another  in  giving  us  the  most 
shocking  descriptions  of  it.  Especially  do  they  com- 
plain of  the  Gauls'  mania  for  the  theatre,  who,  in  the 
midst  of  the  murder  and  the  conflagration  accompany- 
ing the  migration  of  the  nations,  stand  upon  the 
ruins  of  their  cities  and  continue  to  cry  for  plays. 
And  the  frivolity  of  their  morals  was  such  that  all 
indulged  in  licentious  desires  without  regard  to  age 
or  blood-relationship.  Every  trace  of  political  free- 
dom and  honour  had  disappeared  to  such  an  extent, 
that,  at  the  dissolution  of  the  empire,  there  was  no 
class,  no  corporation,  to  be  found  which  could  or  would 
have  established  a  new  political  structure.  There 
were  only  slaves  left  who  were  distributed  among  a  few 
rich  satraps. 

We  think  that  these  facts  should  be  mentioned  first 
because  the  French,  since  the  last  century,  have 
laboured  under  the  delusion  that  they  are  the  direct 
descendants  and  heirs  of  ancient  republicanism.  They 
maintain  that  their  revolution  is  a  restoration  of  that 
antique  civil  liberty,  a  reaction  of  democratic  Roman- 
ism or  Latinism  against  aristocratic  Germanism,  an 
emancipation  of  the  ancient  Roman-Gallic  population 
from  the  yoke  of  the  German  conquerors  or  from  the 
Franconian  feudal  lords.  In  this  sense  they  have 
sought  to  banish  all  remembrances  of  the  Franks,  they 
have  revived  in  their  new  republic  the  names  of  the 
ancient  Roman  republic,  the  senate,  the  consuls. 

To  this  end  Napoleon  also  acted  when  he,  like  the 
emperors  of  ancient  Rome,  gave  back  the  conquered 
land  the  oldest  names,  such  as  Liguria,  Cisalpinia, 
Helvetia,  Belgium,  Batavia,  etc.     Napoleon  acted  con- 


The  Western  Boundary.  171 

sistently  in  doing  this.  But  the  republicans  were 
certainly  wrong  in  terming  themselves  the  heirs  of  the 
freedom  of  ancient  Rome,  as  Gaul  had  never  known  this 
very  thing,  nor  did  it  come  under  Roman  rule  until  after 
freedom  had  been  carried  to  its  grave. 

By  the  Romans,  the  Gauls  were  robbed  of  all  freedom  ; 
they  were  unnationalized,  unnerved.  They  received 
their  freedom  back  again  first  from  the  German  con- 
querors, and  their  morals  were  improved. 

While  the  Romans  succeeded  in  a  short  time  in  com- 
pletely subjugating  the  Gauls,  they  did  not  succeed  in 
doing  the  same  with  the  Germans.  The  Germans,  or 
Deutschen,  knew  how  to  maintain  their  freedom  and 
independence  against  all  attacks  on  the  part  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  they  struggled  vigorously  for  five 
hundred  years  against  the  superior  power  of  Rome,  a 
period  equally  as  long  as  that  during  which  the  Gauls 
were  the  slaves  of  Rome.  At  last  the  Germans  con- 
quered, destroyed  the  Roman  Empire,  and  also  gained 
a  victory  over  Gaul. 

The  settlement  of  German  conquerors  in  Gaul  was 
equally  as  fortunate  and  salutary  for  the  Gaul  as  that 
of  the  Romans  had  been  unfortunate  and  harmful  for 
them.  Through  the  Romans  they  had  lost  their 
nationality,  independence,  freedom,  good  morals  and 
healthy  existence,  Through  the  Germans  these  same 
were  restored  to  them.  It  was  first  by  the  fusion  of 
the  slavish  population  sunken  in  vice  with  the  free 
and  strong  Franks,  Goths,  and  Burgundians  that  health- 
ful life  returned  to  the  people  of  Gaul,  a  new  national 
sentiment,  a  new  popular  morality,  established  upon 
honour,  and  a  new  state  of  justice,  established  upon 
freedom.  The  vanquished  were  treated  with  forbear- 
ance and  received  privileges  which  they  had  never 
possessed  under  the  Romans.  Soon  they  shared  in 
ail  the  privileges  of  the  conquerors,  and  in  the  duties 
of  government.  They  soon  accustomed  themselves  to 
the  new  constitutional  liberty  which  the  Franks  bad 


172  The  Western  Boundary. 

brought  to  them.  Not  only  Franks,  but  Roman-Gauls 
also  appeared  upon  the  Held  of  Mars  and  sat  in  the 
council  of  the  constitutional  kings  bound  by  election 
and  agreement.  Therefore  Montesquieu  rightly  says 
freedom  is  a  gift  which  the  Franks  brought  to  Gaul 
from  the  Germanic  forests.  But  the  French  of  to-day 
are  seeking  to  forget  this  beautiful  and  true  saying  of 
Montesquieu,  and  are  unwilling  to  be  reminded  of  it. 

Gaul  received  still  more  benefices  from  the  Germans. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  the  Moham- 
medans conquered  Spain,  and  in  innumerable  bands 
they  pressed  beyond  the  Pyrenees.  The  new  Frankish 
Empire  in  Gaul  was  not  yet  fully  established.  The 
Roman  language  was  spoken  so  generally  that  Germanic 
ability  was  not  yet  able  to  vanquish  all  forms  of  weak- 
ness. Therefore,  western  France  submitted  to  the 
crescent,  and  would  have  been  completely  subjected 
and  converted  to  the  faith  of  the  Mussulman  had  it  not 
been  saved  by  the  armed  forces  of  Rhine-Franks,  Sua- 
bians,  Bavarians,  and  Thuringians. 

In  the  ninth  century  Germany  was  separated  from 
France  as  an  empire  under  Lewis  the  German.  France 
was  made  a  kingdom  by  itself,  under  Charles  the  Bald. 
Now  it  is  noticeable,  and  special  weight  should  be 
placed  upon  it,  that  the  German  emperors,  though  far 
more  powerful  than  the  French  kings,  always  pre- 
served friendship  with  France,  and  never  planned  to 
disturb  or  to  weaken  it.  How  fortunate  it  was  for 
France  that  it  was  always  spared  most  on  its  weakest 
side  by  its  strongest  neighbour,  and  was  at  no  time 
disturbed  in  its  development ! 

It  was  natural  that  at  that  time,  moreover,  the  little 
French  kingdom  should  occupy  a  place  subordinate  to 
the  great  German  Empire.  The  Germans  were  the 
lords  of  the  universe.  What  were  the  Gauls  to  them  ? 
The  Germans  had  shattered  the  yoke  of  Rome,  they 
had  opposed  a  brazen  wall  to  Islamism,  they  had 
awakened  new  life  in  the  ancient  Roman  provinces  of 


The  Western  Boundary.  173 

England,  France,  and  Italy,  they  had  laid  a  new  founda- 
tion for  state  constitutionality,  civil  freedom,  prosperity 
and  honour.  On  the  other  hand,  what  had  the  Gauls 
done  ?  They  had  as  former  slaves  of  Rome,  as  a  van- 
quished people  received  only  the  benefits  which  the 
German  conquerors  had  generously  granted  them. 
They  remained  passive,  the  Germans  alone  possessed 
the  energy.  Everything  that  was  done  to  transform 
ancient,  degraded,  degenerated  Gaul  into  neAv  salutary 
and  flourishing  France,  was  done  by  the  Germans. 
Under  such  circumstances,  indeed,  it  could  not  have 
occurred  to  the  Gauls  to  be  willing  to  measure  their 
strength  with  the  Germans  or  to  claim  political  equality. 
That  the  German  empire  must  have  been  much  greater 
and  more  powerful  than  the  French  kingdom  was  a 
matter  of  course.  The  Gauls  enjoyed  their  new 
freedom  and  independence,  in  truth,  only  as  a  gift  of 
the  German  victors. 

Just  as  the  complete  transformation  of  the  ancient 
world  in  the  middle  ages  proceeded  from  the  Germans, 
so  there  remained  also  with  the  Germans  the  power  and 
the  evidence  of  this  very  same,  that  is,  the  crown  of 
the  Caesars.  And  just  as  the  complete  conquest  of 
the  Roman  Empire  proceeded  from  Germany,  so 
the  kingdoms  of  Burgundy  and  Italy  remained  in- 
corporated in  the  German  Empire.  How  could  the 
Gauls  have  dared  to  complain  of  this  extension  of  the 
German  Empire,  for  they  themselves  had  been  van- 
quished by  the  Germans,  and  were  emancipated  merely 
by  the  favour  of  the  same  victors?  Centuries  must  elapse 
before  it  could  ever  occur  to  the  modern  Frenchmen  to 
measure  themselves  with  the  Germans,  and  to  be 
willing  to  increase  at  their  expense.  The  preponder- 
ance of  the  Germans  was  so  well  established  naturally 
and  historically,  that  it  required  a  long  lapse  of  time 
till  French  envy  could  dare  to  meddle  with  the  majesty 
of  the  German  nation. 

Far  into  the  thirteenth  century,  France  continued  to 


174  The  Western  Boundary. 

be  bounded  by  the  Garonne,  Loire,  and  Seine,  and  it 
was  solely  by  accident  that  it  also  came  into  possession 
of  the  German  earldom  of  Flanders,  which  had  come 
under  French  fealty  through  Count  Baldwin,  the  son- 
in-law  of  Charles  the  Bald.  But  all  the  rest  of  the 
Netherlands,  Luxemburgh,  Lorraine,  the  free  earldom 
of  Burgundy  (franche  comte),  and  the  whole  district  of 
the  Saone  and  Rhone  (the  old  kingdom  of  Burgundy 
or  Arelat),  belonged  to  the  German  Empire.  Excepting 
Flanders,  the  political  boundary  of  our  empire  extended 
far  beyond  the  limits  imposed  by  the  language,  and  this 
was  natural,  for  since  the  fifth  century  all  this  territory, 
and  even  more,  the  entire  early  empire  of  the  Romans, 
was  a  lawful  conquest  of  the  Germans. 

The  boundary  made  by  the  language  seems  to  have 
been  determined  very  soon  after  the  conquest,  and  it 
has  been  retained  with  few  changes  up  to  the  present 
day.  Further  west  or  south  the  settlements  of  the 
German  conquerors  were  thinner  and  more  scattered  ; 
nearer  the  old  home  in  the  east  and  north  they 
were  more  dense.  In  the  former  case  the  victors 
accepted  the  language  of  the  far  more  numerous  van- 
quished from  whom  are  derived  the  various  Romance 
dialects  of  Spanish,  Italian,  and  French.  In  the  latter 
case  the  victors  were  superior  in  numbers,  and  the 
German  language  was  retained.  The  boundary  between 
the  German  and  French  linguistic  districts  begins  on  the 
North  Sea  at  Calais,  and  thence  runs  almost  directly 
east  on  a  line  north  of  which  are  the  cities,  Ypres, 
Courtrai,  Renaix,  Grammont,  Enghien,  Brussels, 
Louvain,  Tirlemont,  St.  Trond,  Tongres,  Maastricht, 
and  Aachen,  and  south  are  the  cities,  St.  Omer, 
Lille,  Tournai,  Ath,  Nivelles,  Wavre,  Jodoigne, 
Liege,  and  Verviers.  From  Verviers  this  boundary 
suddenly  turns  south  southwest,  passing  through 
Malmedy,  Salm,  HoufFalize,  Bastogne,  Rabay,  to 
Virton.  From  this  point  it  turns  again  southwest, 
and  passes  through  Longwy,  Thionville,  (Dieclenhofen), 


The  Western  Boundary.  175 

crosses  the  Moselle  at  Metz,  runs  along  the  water-shed 
between  the  Moselle  and  the  Saar,  always  keeping 
south,  as  far  as  the  Vosges,  meets  the  same  at  the 
sources  of  the  Saar,  runs  on  back  of  the  Vosges,  and 
strikes  southwards  as  far  as  Altkirch,  but  from  that  point 
it  bends  somewhat  easterly,  nearly  to  the  city  of  Bale, 
then  again  it  turns  directly  south  across  the  Jura, 
descends  at  Biel  and  thence  follows  the  course  of  the 
Aar  and  Saone,  as  far  as  the  High  Alps,  also  mounts 
these,  passes  through  the  middle  of  Wallis,  and  still 
includes  Monte  Rosa  in  the  province  of  Savoy,  the 
mountain  villages  of  which  have  recently  attracted  the 
attention  of  several  travellers.  From  Oberwallis  the 
boundary  extends  eastwards  between  the  German  and 
Italian  border  land  of  languages,  and  straight  through 
the  middle  of  the  high  mountains,  with  a  preponderance 
of  the  German  element,  so  far  as  more  German  is  found 
to  the  south  of  the  highest  water-shecls  than  to  the  north 
of  them.  We  will  not  follow  it  exactly  since  we 
propose  here  to  speak  only  of  the  frontier  opposite 
France. 

All  peoples  west  of  the  boundary  line  mentioned  speak 
Italian  or  French,  all  east  of  the  same  German,  and 
this  boundary  between  the  languages  has  been  pre- 
served almost  unchanged  for  over  a  century,  as  far  as 
the  record  of  history  extends.  It  is  obvious  then  that 
the  entire  district  along  the  Rhine,  both  on  the  left 
bank  as  well  as  the  right,  during  this  long  era  was,  and 
still  is  exclusively  occupied  by  the  Germans. 

For  the  reasons  given  before,  the  empire  of  the 
Germans  still  extends  far  beyond  this  frontier  between 
the  languages,  and  the  claim  upon  its  ancient  conquests 
in  the  Roman  territories  cannot  be  disputed. 

In  the  first  place,  in  the  thirteenth  century  when  that 
most  celebrated  family  of  our  emperor,  the  noble  house 
of  the  Hohenstaufens,  was  defeated  in  that  irreconcil- 
able contest  Avith  the  Roman  hierarchy,  France,  in 
league  with  the  pope,  dared  to  meddle  with  the  rights 


176  The  Western  Boundary. 

and  honour  of  the  German  Empire.  That  empire, 
without  an  emperor,  disturbed  by  the  intrigues  of  the 
pope,  lacerated  by  civil  wars  could  not  attend  to  the 
attacks  of  its  western  neighbour.  France  seized  the 
inheritance  of  the  Hohenstaufens  in  Naples,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Burgundy  on  the  Rhone  (Arelat),  and  it 
was  a  French  prince  that  ordered  the  last  scion  of  the 
Suabian  imperial  house  to  fall  under  the  executioner's 
axe. 

When  one  remembers  that  Gaul  owes  its  restoration 
and  its  new  nourishing  life  to  the  Germans  alone,  and 
that  Germany  never  hindered  nor  even  disturbed  it 
in  its  course  of  development,  France's  treatment  of  our 
Suabian  emperor  seems  far  from  honourable.  Germany 
had  not  deserved  that  from  the  hand  of  France. 

We  shall  now  only  briefly  state  that  France  con- 
tinued in  its  unjust  measures,  that  it  placed  its  princes 
both  on  the  Neapolitan  and  the  Hungarian  thrones,  in 
order  to  surround  the  German  empire  on  all  sides, 
that  it  first  formed  a  league  with  the  pope,  and  then 
soon  made  a  complete  slave  of  him,  removed  him  from 
Rome  to  Avignon,  kept  him  in  honourable  imprison- 
ment, and  gradually  enforced  measures  which  were 
eminently  disastrous  to  the  German  empire.  The 
whole  reign  of  Emperor  Lewis  of  Bavaria  was  a 
desperate  struggle  against  the  snares  and  intrigues  of 
Roman-French  league.  The  wisdom  and  perseverance 
of  the  emperors  of  the  house  of  Luxemburgh  first 
succeeded  in  dissolving  this  Roman-French  alliance,  by 
conducting  the  pope  back  to  Rome,  and  by  holding 
France  in  check,  while  at  the  same  time  the  French 
dynasties  in  Naples  and  Hungary  perished  through 
their  own  vices. 

Yet  a  branch  of  the  royal  house  of  France  was 
firmly  established  between  Germany  and  France. 
This  was  the  new  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who  had  made 
important  acquisitions  at  the  cost  of  our  empire,  in 
the    fourteenth    and    fifteenth    centuries,    partly    by 


The  Western  Boundary.  177 

partly  by  inheritance,  partly  by  stratagem, 
partly  by  force.  Philip  and  his  son,  Charles  the  Bold 
of  Burgundy,  had  by  these  means  gained  possession  of 
Franche  Comte,  Luxemburgh,  and  the  entire  German 
Netherlands.  Charles  had  already  secured  Alsace  for 
himself  by  mortgage,  then  he  planned  also  to  conquer 
Lorraine  and  Switzerland,  to  control  the  entire  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine,  and  to  assume  the  title  of  king.  Had  he 
been  successful  in  this  plan,  the  French  spirit  which 
held  exclusive  sway  at  his  court  would  have  acquired 
extraordinary  influence  at  the  expense  of  the  German. 
Every  one  perceived  that  the  Netherlands  impatiently 
wore  the  yoke  of  the  non-German  prince.  Bloody 
revolts  of  the  Flemish,  and  of  the  citizens  of  Liege 
were  suppressed  only  with  difficulty.  The  German 
Oberland,  however,  prevented  the  danger.  Alsace  rose 
up  in  arms,  and  the  provincial  governor  of  the  Bur- 
gundian  ruler  was  executed  by  the  people  at  Briesach. 
Switzerland  rose  up  in  arms,  and  the  proud  Charles 
was  defeated  in  a  few  but  very  decisive  battles.  He 
himself  was  slain,  and  his  whole  inheritance,  as  far  as 
it  consisted  of  German  imperial  estates,  including 
Flanders,  also  passed  over  to  the  Austrian  house  ;  the 
rest  of  the  French  possessions  of  the  duchy  of  Bur- 
gundy returned  to  France.  Should  France,  supported 
by  such  reminiscences,  wish  to  make,  notwithstanding, 
some  historical  claims  on  Flanders,  Germany  would  be 
able  to  reclaim  Arelat  with  even  more  justice. 

The  natural  ascendancy  of  the  German  empire  was 
restored.  But  France  was  unable  to  keep  the  peace. 
It  could  no  longer  resist  the  desire  for  unjust  conquests 
and,  as  it  did  not  dare  to  attack  Germany  itself,  it 
turned  against  Italy,  relying  upon  the  usual  slowness 
of  the  Germans,  who  would  not  hurry  themselves  to 
make  an  effort  in  Italy's  behalf.  France  had  not  the 
slightest  right  in  Italy,  for  its  claim  upon  Naples, 
which  it  had  illegally  seized  from  the  Hohcnstaufens, 
had   to  be   held  by   force  as   a  legitimate   one.     But 

vol.  1.  N 


17S  The  Western  Boundary. 

France  desired  not  merely  Naples,  but  all  Upper  Italy. 
It  started  long,  bloody  and  desolating  Avars,  without 
any  just  cause,  purely  from  avarice.  It  did  not,  how- 
ever, attain  its  object.  Its  king  was  imprisoned  and 
dishonoured  at  Paris.  The  German  Emperor,  Charles 
V.,  continued  to  rule  in  Italy  as  in  Spain,  which  he  had 
inherited.  Yet  he  made  his  political  mistake  in 
dividing  his  great  possessions,  in  tearing  all  the 
Netherlands  and  the  free  earldom  of  Burgundy  from 
the  German  empire,  and  in  giving  them,  together  with 
Naples  and  Milan,  to  his  son  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  while 
his  brother  Ferdinand  received  only  the  rest. 

Simultaneous  with  this  began  the  great  German 
reformation,  and  unfortunately  the  divisions  which 
rent  our  empire  soon  gave  France  a  new  opportunity 
for  brigandage.  The  Protestants  were  defeated  in  the 
Schmalkalden  war.  Prince  Morice  of  Saxony,  who, 
until  now,  had  fought  on  the  emperor's  side  against 
the  Protestants,  then  committed  his  famous  act  of 
treason,  and  allied  himself  with  France  for  the 
Protestant  cause  against  the  emperor.  King  Henry 
II.  of  France  broke  down  the  frontier  of  the  empire, 
sending  before  him  a  revolutionary  manifest,  which 
proclaimed  freedom  for  the  Germans  and  was  sym- 
bolically adorned  with  a  liberty-cap  and  a  dagger. 
Who  gave  him  the  right  to  summon  the  Germans  to 
revolt  against  their  emperor?  The  German  empe- 
rors had  never  interfered  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
France.  To  be  sure,  Henry  II.  was  invited  by  Prince 
Morice.  But  is  it  international  law  to  accept  the 
invitation  of  a  revolutionist,  in  order  to  disturb  a 
neighbouring  country  ?  Henry  II.  wished  to  save 
the  liberty  of  the  Germans,  moreover  their  religious 
liberty.  But  was  he  actually  in  earnest  about  it  ?  He 
himself  was  Catholic,  and  continued  to  be  Catholic, 
and  such  a  fanatical  one  that  he  ordered  all  the  con- 
verts to  the  Lutheran  faith  in  France  to  be  burned 
alive,  and  he  was  personally  present  at  these  auto-da-fes. 


The  Western  Boundary.  179 

While  he  hoped  to  befool  the  Germans  with  a  gross  lie, 
namely,  that  he  was  acting  for  the  rescue  of  their 
religious  liberty,  he  intended  nothing  else  than  to 
make  some  conquests  in  German  territory,  which  was 
powerless  to  oppose  him  because  of  the  general  chaos 
in  the  empire.  By  stratagem  and  force  he  gained 
possession  of  the  three  cities  and  bishoprics  of  Metz, 
Toul  and  Verdun,  and  he  was  permitted  to  hold  them, 
for  the  Germans  were  disunited  and  fighting  with  one 
another,  instead  of  uniting  their  strength  to  oppose 
the  enemy  of  the  empire.  Metz,  till  now  a  free 
German  imperial  city,  subsequently  became  inclined  to 
Lutheranism,  lost  its  ancient  freedom  and  was  changed 
into  a  French  provincial  city.  iUso  the  religious 
liberty,  for  which  the  king  feigned  to  contend,  was 
wholly  suppressed,  the  Lutheran  confession  of  faith 
was  forbidden  on  pain  of  death. 

The  deadly  hatred  of  both  church  parties  in 
Germany  increased  still  more,  and  at  last  broke  out 
in  that  long  struggle,  which,  under  the  name  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  left  such  a  direful  record. 
Sweden  and  France  took  part  in  this  great  civil  war 
of  the  Germans,  both  under  the  pretext  of  giving  the 
Protestants  assistance  against  the  emperor,  but  really 
for  the  purpose  of  making  conquests  in  Germany. 
Sweden  can  produce  much  to  excuse  its  part.  Recent 
historians  of  the  Germans  have  been,  indeed,  too 
generous  with  their  reproaches  for  the  King  Gustavus 
Adolphus.  He  desired  to  make  conquests,  he  had, 
indeed,  the  bold  plan  to  become  German  emperor. 
Very  well,  we  do  not  doubt  it.  But  if  he  had  accom- 
plished his  plan,  would  it  have  been  a  misfortune  for 
us  ?  He  was  a  prince  of  Germanic  ancestry,  he  would 
have  become  so  German,  that  Sweden  would  soon 
have  been  regarded  only  as  a  German  province.  Be- 
sides, he  was  in  earnest  in  his  struggle  for  religious 
liberty.  He  was-  born  and  bred  a  Protestant,  and 
thoroughly  convinced  with  the    truth  which    at   that 

n  2 


180  The  Western  Boundary. 

time  was  about  to  be  suppressed.  Was  some  political 
ambition  intermingled  with  his  sentiments  ?  Who  can 
declare  that  the  piety  of  this  noble  king  was  merely  a 
mask  ?  It  certainly  was  not.  His  memory  must  con- 
tinue to  be  sacred  to  all  Protestants. 

Thus  Sweden  was  justified  in  interfering  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  in  assisting  the  hard-pressed 
Protestants.  But  France !  What  then  did  France 
wish  ?  At  the  head  of  this  kingdom  stood  a  cardinal, 
and  next  to  him  a  Capuchin,  the  notorious  Father 
Joseph,  who  in  the  name  of  the  king,  not  yet  of  age, 
held  sway.  A  cardinal  and  a  monk !  Could  they 
have  meant  honesty  with  the  cause  of  the  Protestants  ? 
And  yet  they  did  not  hesitate  to  renew  the  jugglery  of 
Henry  II.,  and  again  to  announce  that  they  desired  to 
fight  for  the  religious  liberty  of  the  German  Protestants. 
They  had  no  other  object  than  to  rob  Germany  at  a 
moment  when  it  was  too  weak  to  defend  itself.  France 
acted  like  a  thief  that  enters  a  burning  city,  not  to 
extinguish  the  fire,  but  to  steal.  It  had  not  the  least 
right  to  interfere  in  German  affairs.  The  people  in 
Germany  understood  this  very  well,  and  made  a  great 
distinction  between  the  Swedes  and  the  French.  It 
greeted  King  Gustavus  Adolphus  as  a  saviour,  it  cast 
itself  upon  its  knees  before  him,  and  besought  his 
blessing.  In  the  so-called  saviour,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  came  across  the  Rhine  with  French  troops,  in 
General  Turenne,  it  saw  only  a  robber  and  an  incen- 
diary. Thousands  of  public  voices  of  that  time, 
pamphlets,  reports,  and  memorials  spoke  for  the  Swedes, 
not  one  for  the  French. 

Wearied  at  last  by  the  long  war,  the  German  empire 
finally  had  to  surrender  Alsace  as  booty  to  the 
French,  with  the  exception  of  the  imperial  cities,  parti- 
cularly Strasburg,  which  at  that  time  were  still  left  to 
us,  but  were  surrounded  with  French  troops,  and  were 
exposed  without  protection  to  the  pleasure  of  France. 
The  flag    of  lilies   was   planted   on    the    Rhine ;    the 


The  Western  Boundary.  181 

Rhine,  at  least  a  part  of  the  Rhine,  was  now  the 
boundary  of  France.  Can  we  call  this  then  a  natural 
boundary  ?  In  truth  one  does  not  need  to  belong  to 
the  German  nation  which  was  so  injured,  and  so 
deeply  wronged  in  its  rights,  in  order  to  be  con- 
vinced that  France  has  come  up  to  the  Rhine  only 
per  nefas,  that  it  never  had  a  right  either  to  make 
conquests  in  the  German  empire,  or  even  to  interfere 
in  the  affairs  of  Germany. 

Germany  was  so  worn-out  that  France  was  enabled 
to  continue  its  wicked  game  with  little  trouble. 
France's  conquests  in  Germany  did  not  cease  with  the 
peace  of  Westphalia,  but  they  were  then  first  systema- 
tically begun. 

While  Germany  was  still  only  an  empire  in  name, 
but  in  fact  a  hollow  heap  of  discordant  and  feeble 
states,  Louis  XIV.  in  France  brought  all  the  provinces, 
classes  and  parties  under  his  power,  and  created  the 
absolute  monarchy  in  which  everything  was  subservient 
to  one  will.  This  enabled  him  to  levy  immense  taxes 
and  to  raise  enormous  armies,  an  expenditure  of 
strength  Avith  which  the  neighbouring  states  in  their 
feeble  condition  could  not  compete.  This  transform- 
ation of  France  under  Louis  XIV.  may  justly  be 
regarded  as  a  Gallic-Roman  reaction  against  the 
Germanic  element  which  had  always  been  in  force  in 
France,  as  a  destruction  of  ancient  Franconian 
liberties  of  the  people,  and  of  state  representation,  as 
a  return  to  early  Roman  despotism,  such  as  had  been 
customary  in  Gaul  for  five  hundred  years,  from  the 
time  of  Caesar  until  that  of  Clovis.  This  explains 
also  the  great  revolution  in  taste,  in  art,  and  literature. 
The  court  of  Louis  XIV.  was  surrounded  with 
memories  of  Roman  antiquity,  and  with  imitations  of 
ancient  art.  Ancient  mythology  was  brought  to  life 
again.  Statues  and  pictures  of  ancient  gods  filled  the 
palaces  and  gardens  ;  the  plays,  operas  and  poems  were 
fashioned  after  this  model.     It  was  the  middle  ages  of 


1 82  The  Western  Boundary. 

the  renaissance,  the  second  birth  of  the  Gallic-Roman 
spirit. 

But  this  spirit  had  none  of  the  better  pristine  spirit 
of  the  Roman  and  Greek  republics,  everything  was 
derived  from  the  base  spirit  of  the  later  Roman  empire. 
It  was  godless,  immoral  and  heathen,  despotic  and 
servile.  The  French  court  wallowed  in  all  the  vices 
of  the  ancient  world,  and  presented  a  scene  of  shame- 
less public  life,  of  which  the  people  had  no  recollections, 
but  which  was  referred  to  by  scholars  as  classic,  and 
was  palliated. 

Unfortunately  Louis  XIV.  also  adopted  the  ancient 
Roman  system  of  conquest,  haughty  contempt  for  all 
popular  rights,  and  while  he  regarded  himself  as  heir 
to  the  ancient  Roman  culture,  it  pleased  him  to  see  in 
the  Germans  again  only  "  barbarians  "  that  he  had  a 
right  to  subject  to  himself  by  stratagem  and  force, 
just  as  the  Roman  emperors  had  exercised  the  same 
right.  It  is  true  that  the  French  kings  before  him 
had  pursued  this  policy  and  never  regarded  the  rights 
of  their  German  neighbours,  but  Louis  XIV.  was  much 
more  systematic  in  this  policy.  The  Conquest  of  the 
World  and  the  establishment  of  a  universal  French 
monarchy  were  always  the  dominant  scheme  of  the 
French  cabinet  and  of  the  French  nation. 

Louis  could  inoculate  the  ancient  Roman  system  into 
the  body  politic  of  Europe  most  conveniently,  if  he 
himself  was  the  German  emperor.  He  was  all  in  a 
position  which  made  it  possible  for  him  to  remove 
Germanic  institutions  gradually  from  the  German 
Empire,  as  he  did  in  France,  and  in  their  place  to 
establish  Roman  despotic  institutions,  to  convert  the 
German  emperor  into  an  ancient  Roman  one,  without 
being  perceived,  and  to  date  back  the  empire,  which  up 
to  this  hour  was  reckoned  from  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne, to  the  time  of  Augustus.  His  influence  in 
Germany  was  great ;  that  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg 
had  been  enfeebled  since  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and 


The  Western  Boundary.  iS 


j 


the  younger,  and  somewhat  more  inactive  Leopold,  did 
not  seem  to  be  an  opponent  against  whom  Louis 
should  not  have  ventured  to  make  this  undertaking 
after  the  deatli  of  Ferdinand  III.  He  did  venture 
it.  Although  the  circumstances  were  greatly  in  his 
favour  at  that  time,  yet  he  too  failed  at  the  imperial 
election,  like  all  previous  French  kings.  German 
princes  often  allowed  themselves  to  be  bribed  by 
France,  to  be  induced  to  commit  open  treason  and 
revolt  against  emperor  and  empire,  to  accept  pay  in 
war,  but  they  never  surrendered  themselves  to  favour 
France  at  the  elections.  In  this  respect  they  always 
preserved  a  certain  pride,  and  displayed  more  stability 
than  France  expected.  But  they  were  not  without 
perjury,  for  they  first  gave  France  reason  to  hope,  and 
then  deceived  it.  The  intrigues  at  the  election  of 
Leopold  L,  by  which  his  competitor  for  the  German 
crown,  Louis  XIV.,  was  excluded,  are  a  web  of  the 
basest  perjuries  committed  on  all  sides.  In  order  to 
appease  the  anger  of  Louis  XIV.  on  account  of  his  dis- 
appointed hopes,  Prince  John  Philip  of  Mayence,  the 
imperial  vice-chancellor,  who  conducted  the  election, 
and  his  still  more  talented  minister,  Boineburg,  united 
the  elective  act  favouring  German  interests  with  a 
political  act  most  injurious  to  those  interests — absolutely 
opposed  to  them,  namely,  the  establishment  of  a 
Rhenish  confederation  against  the  German  emperor 
and  under  the  protectorate  of  France.  Thus  the 
diplomatic  intriguers  in  Mayence  hoped  not  to  injure 
their  cause  either  with  the  emperor  or  with  France, 
and  to  keep  their  hands  in  the  game.  The  weak 
emperor  was  satisfied  with  it,  and  he  was  very 
anxious  to  save  the  Mayence  plotter.  But  Louis 
seemed  to  be  extremely  enraged,  he  terrified  the 
electoral  prince  of  Mayence,  and  forced  him  to  cast 
himself  unconditionally  into  the  arms  of  France. 
Boineburg,  however,  was  not  excused.  Whatever 
he  had  done  for  Louis  in  establishing  the  Rhenish  con- 


184  The  Western  Boundary. 

federation  was  ungratefully  forgotten ;  that  he  had 
prevented  the  election  of  Louis  at  the  imperial  elec- 
tion was  charged  against  him  as  the  worst  of  crimesr 
and  at  the  command  of  Louis  XIV.,  John  Philip,  the 
German  imperial  vice-chancellor,  ordered  his  minister, 
Boinebur";,  to  be  arrested  at  the  sitting  of  the  diet  at 
Regensburg,  and  to  be  cast  into  prison. 

Louis's  influence  became  still  greater  when  he 
bribed  the  princes  of  the  Rhenish  confederation  with 
enormous  sums  of  money  annually,  and  almost  all  the 
princes  of  west  Germany  flocked  hither  in  order  to  beg 
large,  yes,  even  small  sums.  Indeed  at  the  court  of  the 
emperor,  minister  Lobkowitz,  who  was  absolute  in 
power,  was  bribed  with  French  money.  The  great 
electoral  Prince  of  Brandenburg  alone  represented  the 
honour  and  the  interests  of  Germany,  and  reproached 
the  other  princes  for  their  treachery  and  their  feeble- 
ness. 

Louis  did  not  yet  dare  to  attempt  a  direct  attack 
upon  the  German  empire,  in  order  to  make  any  con- 
quests in  it,  lest  he  should  terrify  the  princes  of  the 
Rhenish  confederation,  and  again  alienate  them  from 
him.  He  still  needed  them.  In  the  second  place  it 
all  depended  upon  being  certain  of  both  the  flanks  of 
Germany,  namely,  Switzerland  and  the  Netherlands. 
If  he  succeeded  in  this,  and  he  hoped  to  accomplish  it 
by  means  of  this  very  Rhenish  confederation,  he  could 
then  without  further  regard  for  the  latter,  fall  at  once 
upon  the  German  empire. 

Switzerland  he  gained,  as  he  had  the  confederation, 
by  bribery.  An  attack  upon  Switzerland  would  have 
been  dangerous,  and  wholly  superfluous.  The  Swiss 
offered  themselves  voluntarily  to  serve  France,  and  in 
all  his  wars  Louis  had  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand 
Swiss  in  his  pay,  who  were  always  foremost,  and 
often  alone  decided  a  victory  or  prevented  a  defeat. 
Swiss  diplomacy  also  served  the  French.  The  rulers 
of  the  Swiss    confederation   were   bribed   by   France, 


The  Western  Boundary.  185 

they  did  everything  that  France  desired,  hindered  the 
movements  of  the  emperor,  opposed  all  demands  of  the 
German  empire,  acted  altogether  as  if  Switzerland 
were  a  French  province.  Ziirich  alone  struggled 
against  France.  The  Swiss  had  lost  all  sentiment  for 
German  nationality,  and  yet  they  are  German.  All 
their  political  foresight  had  gone.  As  republicans 
they  served  a  despot ;  as  neighbours  they  strengthened 
a  power  which  itself  was  destined  sooner  or  later  to  be 
equally  dangerous  to  them,  and  to  all  other  neigh- 
bours. Had  the  Swiss  fought  for  the  German  cause 
with  their  strong  armies,  France  would  never  had  been 
so  powerful.  Never  did  France  gain  an  advantage 
over  Germany,  except  by  German  arms,  by  the  assist- 
ance of  Germans  who  denied  their  own  country. 

The  Swiss  were  secured  by  cunning  intrigue  and 
money,  and  Louis  now  sought  most  of  all  to  get 
possession  of  the  Netherlands. 

King  Charles  Stuart  II.,  who  had  been  reinstated 
after  a  great  revolution  in  England,  surrendered  him- 
self completely  to  the  French  policy,  and  undertook 
to  occupy  the  vigilant  Hollanders  by  a  combat  on  sea. 
The  Spanish  Netherlands,  supported  neither  by  Holland 
nor  by  the  German  empire,  were  flooded  with  French 
armies  and  exposed  their  feebleness.  The  popular  spirit 
had  been  impaired  by  the  training  of  the  Jesuits. 
Louis  seized  Arras,  Hesdin,  and  a  few  other  places 
from  the  Spanish  Netherlands  and  united  them  to 
France.  No  one  took  any  notice  of  it.  It  was  not  yet 
time  to  capture  all  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  as  Louis 
wished  to  have  Holland  first.  If  this  country  were  in 
his  power,  the  southern  Netherlands  would  naturally 
fall  into  his  hands  of  their  own  accord.  But  in  order 
to  conquer  Holland  he  still  had  need  of  the  Rhenish 
confederation  which  assured  to  him  partly  the  alliance, 
partly  the  neutrality  of  the  German  empire.  He  let 
spring  all  the  diplomatic  mines.  The  confederation  had 
to  supply  troops  for  him.     The  emperor  himself  was 


1 86  The  Western   Boundary. 

induced  by  Lobkowitz  to  look  upon  the  conquest  of 
Holland  peacefully,  as  the  Hollanders,  of  course,  were 
only  Calvinistic  heretics.  The  English  also  allowed 
themselves  to  be  influenced  by  commercial  jealousy  to 
assist  the  French  against  Holland.  Now  Holland  seemed 
to  be  lost,  but  the  heroic  uprising  of  the  Hollanders 
and  the  skill  with  which  they  used  their  water  power, 
opening  the  dikes  and  piercing  the  dams,  as  a  protection 
against  their  foe,  prevented  the  triumphant  journey  of 
the  two  hundred  thousand  men  whom  Louis  had  led  to 
the  Scheldt.  At  the  same  time  the  Great  Elector, 
Prince  of  Brandenburg,  was  eagerly  striving  to  arouse 
the  empire  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  Holland  ;  the 
emperor  finally  bestirred  himself,  and  his  general 
Montecuculi,  despite  the  prohibitive  order  of  Lobkowitz, 
was  decidedly  anti-French  in  his  feelings.  Louis  no 
longer  dared  to  take  any  extreme  measures,  and  he  left 
Holland  in  peace. 

But  he  revenged  himself  when  he  sent  the  Swedes 
into  the  territory  of  the  Great  Elector,  and  allowed  the 
emperor  to  be  annoyed  by  the  Turks  in  the  East.  It  is 
true  that  Louis  called  himself  the  Most  Christian  king, 
but  he  did  not  hesitate  to  enter  into  a  public  alliance  with 
the  Sultan.  While  the  Great  Elector  and  the  emperor 
were  busied  in  another  quarter,  Louis  again  seized 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  and  the  Austrian  posses- 
sions on  the  Upper  Rhine,  and,  in  order  to  prevent 
him  from  seizing  more,  the  Spanish  surrendered  to 
him  Burgundy  (the  free  earldom,  franche  comte)  and 
twelve  important  Netherland  towns,  Tournay,  Lille, 
Courtrai,  etc.,  the  Germans  surrendered  the  city  of 
Freiburg  in  the  Breisgau,  which  he  converted  into  a 
French  fortification.  This  happened  at  the  Treaty  of 
Nimeguen  ("  Nimm  weg  " — take  away,  people  said  it 
meant)  in  1678. 

The  great  feebleness  evinced  by  this  surrender  on  the 
part  of  the  German  empire  incited  the  King  of  France 
to    continue    to   make  more  impudent  demands.     He 


The  Western  Boundary.  1S7 

established  the  notorious  chambers  of  reunion,  which 
were  obliged  to  record  all  former  alliances  with  the 
German  provinces  and  cities  conquered  by  him,  all 
which  he  reclaimed  at  once  as  French  property.  The 
emperor  being  at  that  time  sorely  pressed  by  the  Turks 
could  not  ward  off  these  new  French  depredations. 
German  traitors  assisted  the  French,  and  thus  Stras- 
burg  fell,  which  until  the  year  1681  had  been  the  un- 
assailable bulwark  of  Germany  on  the  Upper  Rhine. 

Since  German  historians  have  troubled  themselves 
very  little  with  more  detailed  accounts  of  this  lament- 
able affair,  we  think  it  ought  to  be  related  here.  We 
closely  follow  the  excellent  work  of  Friese,  who  pub- 
lished his  "  History  of  Strasburg  from  the  year  1791  to 
1795,"  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  of  the  revolution,  a 
work  almost  unknown  in  Germany,  although  it  is 
written  in  good  German  spirit  and  with  great  care. 
It  ought  to  be  known  that  the  citizens  of  Strasburg 
hated  and  feared  to  come  under  the  rule  of  France  more 
than  anything  else,  that  they  had  made  the  greatest 
sacrifices  in  order  to  fortify  their  city  sufficiently,  that 
they  had  frequently  sought  aid  from  the  German 
empire,  and  from  the  Swiss,  their  old  allies,  that  they 
had  never  allowed  themselves  to  be  ensnared  or  tricked 
by  intrigues  of  Louis,  that  before  their  feet  was  laid 
the  head  of  the  lawyer,  Obrecht,  who  had  formerly 
planned  to  betray  the  city  to  France.  But  from  all 
sides  the  French  pressed  hard  upon  Strasburg ;  they 
hindered  its  trade,  they  impoverished  it  little  by 
little  and  drove  it  to  despair.  At  the  same  time 
Obrecht  junior,  the  son  of  the  one  executed,  brooded 
over  revenge  upon  the  honourable,  resolute  German- 
minded  chief-magistrate,  Deitrich,  who  had  principally 
led  to  the  discovery  and  punishment  of  the  former's 
father.  Obrecht,  with  three  hundred  thousand  imperial 
dollars,  entrusted  to  him  by  Louis  XIV.  for  this  purpose, 
bribed  the  city  secretary,  Gimzcr,  and  a  number  of 
other  men,  and,  while  the  most  influential  citizens  of 


1 88  The  Western  Boundary. 

Strasburg  were  absent  visiting  the  fair  at  Frankfort, 
Strasburg  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  large  French 
force.  Terrible  threats  on  their  part,  the  intrigues  of 
the  traitors,  the  absence  of  the  best  citizens,  the  im- 
possibility of  succour,  the  hopes  of  saving  the  ancient 
liberties  of  the  city  by  a  capitulation  were  effectual. 
The  city  was  surrendered,  and  never  since  then  has  the 
German  flag  floated  upon  its  walls.  Obrecht  became  a 
Catholic  and  absolute  governor  of  the  King  of  France 
in  Strasburg.  The  fate  of  the  noble  chief-magistrate, 
Dominicus  Dietrich,  is  touching,  and  his  memory  ought 
not  to  have  been  so  neglected,  as  is  the  case,  for  in 
what  history  of  the  German  people  has  the  tragic  end 
of  this  patriot  been  mentioned  ?  It  is  a  hard  lot  to  be 
a  patriot  in  Germany,  for  he  is — forgotten. 

Dietrich  was  summoned  to  Paris,  and  was  retained 
their  lest  a  German  party  of  opposition  should  be 
formed  about  him.  Having  detained  him  a  long 
time  they  thought  that  he  had  become  humble,  and 
they  attempted  to  bribe  him,  in  order  that  upon  his 
return  to  Strasburg  he  might  preach  French  principles 
to  his  party.  The  notorious  minister,  Louvois,  ordered 
him  to  be  summoned,  received  him  while  reading  his 
Bible,  and  said  to  him  as  follows :  "  The  chief  people  of 
Antioch  said  to  Mattathias  :  Thou  art  the  most  noble 
and  most  powerful  in  this  city,  and  hast  many  sons  and 
many  friends,  therefore  enter  thou  first  and  do  what  the 
king  has  commanded  as  all  lands  have  done,  and  the 
people  of  Judea  that  are  still  at  Jerusalem :  so  shall 
thou  and  thy  sons  have  a  gracious  king  and  be  endowed 
with  gold  and  silver,  and  great  gifts."  (I.  Maccabees 
2,  17-18.)  But  Dietrich,  being  a  good  Lutheran  and 
well  versed  in  his  Bible,  answered  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment :  "  Then  Mattathias  said  :  Although  all  lands 
were  obedient  to  Antioch,  and  every  man  deserted  the 
law  of  his  fathers,  and  consent  to  the  command  of  the 
king,  yet  I,  my  sons,  and  my  brothers,  are  not  willing  to 
desert  the  law  "  (the  following  verses) .     After  that  they 


The  Western  Boundary.  189 

made  short  work  with  him  and  banished  him  to  south- 
ern France,  from  which  he  was  released  when  he  had 
become  an  old  man,  and  then  in  order  to  die  in  Stras- 
burg. 

After  Louis  XIV.  had  acquired  possession  of  this 
German  bulwark,  he  was  no  longer  in  need  of  a 
Rhenish  confederation,  nor  of  the  princes  of  western 
Germany.  From  this  stronghold  his  armies  could 
quickly  invade  the  Palatinate  and  Suabia,  and  rob  and 
rule  after  their  hearts'  desire.  Discarding  the  old 
mask  of  friendship  he  carried  death  and  desolation 
into  the  lands  of  the  same  princes,  whom  he  had  so 
long  flattered  as  their  beloved  protector.  He  next 
desired  to  gain  possession  of  the  whole  electorate  of 
the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  for  his  brother  Philip  of 
Orleans,  who  had  espoused  the  sister  of  the  elector, 
Charles  Lewis ;  and  he  did  this  with  still  greater 
arrogance,  for  the  elector  was  still  living,  and  legal 
heirs  of  the  house  of  Wittelsbach  were  not  wanting. 
A  demon  in  human  form  suggested  to  the  king  that 
he  would  be  most  sure  of  securing  his  object  if  he 
frightened  the  feeble  and  discordant  imperial  princes  of 
Germany ;  that  they  would  consent  to  the  most  dis- 
advantageous treaty,  if  he  should  terrify  them  as  they 
had  never  before  been.  Therefore  he  ordered  that  the 
cities  and  villages  of  the  peaceful  and  prosperous 
Palatinate,  of  the  neighbouring  electorate  of  Mayence, 
of  the  margrave  of  Baden,  and  even  of  the  duchy  of 
Wurtemberg  should  be  plundered  and  burned  to  the 
ground,  the  inhabitants  robbed,  abused,  insulted, 
murdered  as  if  Attila  had  returned  with  the  Huns. 
They  burned  Worms,  Spires,  Frankenthal,  Alzey, 
Andernach,  Kochheim,  Oberwesel,  Kreuznach,  Mann- 
heim, Ladenburg,  Weinheim,  Gernsheim,  Heppenheini, 
Oppenheim,  Durlach,  Bruchsal,  Rastall,  Baden, 
Bretten,  Pforzheim,  etc.;  in  the  second  invasion, 
Heidelberg,  Hirschau,  Calw,  Xeuenburg,  Knittlingen, 
Marbach,    Yaihingen,    etc.,    not    including   numerous 


190  The  Western  Boundary. 

hamlets  and  villages,  were  destroyed.  And  Lonis  XIV. 
did  all  this  without  having  been  injured  in  the  least 
by  Germany.  And  this  king  boasted  of  being  at  the 
head  of  civilization ! 

However,  his  plan  did  not  wholly  succeed.  In 
Mayence  General  Thiingen  bravely  resisted  him,  a  man 
whom  our  country's  history  has  also  ungratefully  for- 
gotten. The  empire  bestirred  itself  again.  The 
emperor  had  just  become  master  of  the  Turks  in  the 
East,  and  so  Louis  XIV.,  by  the  treaty  of  Ryswick 
(" Beiss  iveg" — tear  away,  as  people  then  said)  had 
to  rest  contented  with  what  the  treaty  of  Nimeguen 
secured  to  him,  and  with  Strasburg  and  the  imperial 
towns  of  Alsace  which  had  already  been  most  cruelly 
treated,  and  partly  burned  to  the  ground  by  him. 
But  he  did  not  sret  the  Palatinate,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  give  back  Freiburg  in  the  Breisgau  in  the  year  of  1 697. 

To  him  Strasburg  was  far  more  important  strate- 
getically,  than  Freiburg,  and  besides  he  founded  the 
fortress  of  Hiiningen,  a  cannon-shot's  distance  from 
Bale,  in  order  to  gain  a  broad  basis  for  operation  on 
the  Upper  Rhine.  The  Swiss  murmured  but  he 
reconciled  them,  and  bribed  their  regents  by  annual 
payments  and  military  stipends,  so  that  he  was 
not  at  all  apprehensive  of  them.  They  also  were 
practically  pleased  with  everything,  they  continued  to 
furnish  him  with  numerous  regiments,  and  actually 
forgot  that  he  had  cut  off  their  trade  with  Alsace  and 
Burgundy.  The  policy  of  the  Swiss  confederation  at 
that  time  is  the  most  despicable  that  republics  have 
ever  had  to  be  ashamed  of.  When  Louis  seized  the 
free  imperial  city  of  Strasburg,  a  republic  that  had  for 
ages  been  allied  to  the  Swiss,  and  had  often  rendered 
them  assistance  in  their  combats,  he  was  not  only  not 
opposed  by  the  Swiss,  but  they  sent  their  ambassadors 
to  him,  and  courted  him  in  the  most  servile  manner, 
serving  him  at  table  in  their  official  dress,  and  re- 
ceiving presents  of  money  from  him. 


The  Western  Boundary.  191 

Soon  after  that,  just  at  the  close  of  the  century,  the 
family  of  Philip  II.  in  Spain  died  out,  and  the  German 
line  of  the  house  of  Hapsburg  laid  claim  to  his  rich 
inheritance.  But  the  elder  daughter  of  the  last  of  the 
Hapsburgs  in  Spain  had  been  married  to  a  grandson  of 
Louis  XIV.,  and  this  made  good  the  female  succession. 
Apart  from  the  official  and  family  importance  of  this 
matter  of  inheritance,  it  was  very  natural  that  France 
should  necessarily  fear  a  consolidation  of  Spain,  the 
Netherlands,  Naples,  and  Milan  with  the  German 
empire,  a  restoration  of  the  great  monarchy  of  Charles 
V.,  quite  as  much  as  Germany  had  to  be  alarmed  at  an 
increase  of  French  power  through  this  Spanish  inheri- 
tance. Policy  also  necessarily  forbade  a  decision  of 
this  suit  by  the  sword. 

This  time  Germany  had  the  advantage  of  having 
England  on  its  side.  Whenever  England  acted  in 
union  with  Germany,  France  was  overpowered.  More- 
over, Prince  Eugene,  of  Savoy,  who  was  at  heart 
the  best  German  of  those  times,  took  his  place  at 
the  head  of  the  imperial  army,  and  wrought  wonders 
in  military  art  against  the  French,  as  he  had  done 
against  the  Turks.  Then  Louis,  who  was  growing  old, 
saw  himself  humbled  at  last,  saw  his  arrogant  generals 
and  armies  defeated,  his  treasures  vainly  squandered. 
But  his  cunning  and  good  luck  saved  him.  England 
broke  from  Germany,  and  left  Prince  Eugene  in  the 
lurch  in  the  presence  of  the  French,  left  the  German 
diplomats  in  the  lurch  at  the  time  of  negotiations,  and 
by  its  faithless  policy  caused  us  to  lose  again  the 
fruits  of  such  long  and  glorious  battles.  Yet  France 
could  gain  Spain  only,  and  Spain  continued  to  be 
under  the  rule  of  Louis's  grandson,  a  kingdom  separate 
from  France,  while  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  Naples, 
and  Milan  passed  directly  over  to  Austria  in  the  year 
1713. 

But  all  these  advantages  were  soon  swept  away 
again,  because  Emperor  Charles  VI.  had  no  son,  and 


192  The  Western  Boundary. 

in  order  to  secure  the  succession  for  his  celebrated 
daughter  Maria  Theresa,  he  purchased  the  consent  of 
other  states,  especially  France,  with  great  sacrifices. 
For  this  purpose  he  surrendered  Naples  and  Lorraine 
to  France  of  his  own  accord.  The  important  surrender 
of  Lorraine  was  at  that  time  still  kept  a  secret,  because 
Francis,  the  young  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who  married 
Maria  Theresa,  received  Tuscany  instead  of  Lorraine, 
and  Lorraine  itself  was  provisionally  given  to  the 
dethroned  King  of  Poland,  Stanislaus  Teszcynski,  who, 
however,  had  no  son,  and  after  whose  death,  1766, 
France  actually  came  into  possession  of  the  much  and 
long  desired  Lorraine.  Naples  became  an  independent 
kingdom  under  a  French  king  belonging  to  the  house 
of  Louis  XIV.,  as  did  Spain. 

In  this  manner  France  acquired  what  it  still  holds 
to-day,  acquired  it  from  Germany  by  robbery,  by  base 
robbery  in  the  midst  of  peace,  or  by  fraudulent  use  of 
our  misfortune.  It  acquired  the  ancient  kingdom  of 
Burgundy,  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  from  Geneva  to 
Marseilles,  at  the  time  of  our  misfortune  when  the 
Hohenstaufens  became  extinct.  It  acquired  the 
bishoprics  of  Lorraine  at  the  time  of  our  misfortune 
during  the  Reformation.  It  acquired  Alsace  at  the 
time  of  our  misfortune  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  At 
the  time  of  our  feebleness  and  in  the  midst  of  peace,  it 
seized  upon  the  earldom  of  Burgundy,  a  part  of 
the  Netherlands  and  Strasburg.  At  the  time  of  our 
feebleness,  and  through  the  family  compact  of  Charles 
VI.,  which  was  most  injurious  to  all  German  interests, 
it  won  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen  beautiful  Lorraine,  so 
long  loyal  to  the  German  empire.  The  family  of  Louis 
X1Y.  ruled  now  both  in  Spain  and  Naples. 

All  that  France  acquired,  it  acquired  at  the  expense 
of  Germany.  The  loss  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of 
Burgundy  and  of  Naples,  also  of  the  free  earldom  of 
Burgundy,  of  Italian  Lorraine  and  of  Italian  Arras, 
etc.,  was  a  great  political  loss,  if  not  a  national  one. 


The  Western  Boundary.  193 

By  the  loss  of  Alsace  and  German  Lorraine,  moreover, 
we  were  deeply  injured  in  our  national  interests. 
These  fine  provinces  were  severed  like  a  sound  limb 
from  the  living  body  of  Germany,  and  were  subjected 
to  the  influence  of  a  foreign  nationality.  But  the 
worst  was,  that  by  this  example  it  was  clearly  proved 
that  the  German  nation  had  lost  its  ancient  precedence 
in  Europe.  Until  this  time  Romance  and  Slavonic 
peoples  had  been  subject  to  German  masters.  Now 
for  the  first  time  German  people  were  subject  to 
foreign  masters.  What  the  Romance  state  in  the  west 
had  done,  that  was  also  done  now  by  the  Slavic 
state  in  the  East,  and  France  had  hardly  taken  Alsace 
from  us  when  Russia  also  on  the  other  side  took  from 
us  German  Livland. 

As  we  were  defeated  by  the  French  on  the  field, 
as  we  had  allowed  them  unpunished  to  wrest  German 
provinces  from  us,  so  also  German  spirit,  as  the 
result  of  this,  was  subjected  to  the  French.  The 
external  losses  kept  pace  with  the  internal  degeneration 
of  Germany.  Was  it  the  cause  or  was  it  the  result, 
matters  not ;  all  feeling  for  German  national  honour 
and  strength  and  loyalty,  upon  which  the  German 
had  once  relied  for  his  nationality,  died  out  when 
the  French  made  their  advances  against  Germany. 

The  German  courts  and  the  German  nobility 
patterned  after  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.,  copied  his 
despotism,  his  taste  and  his  extravagances.  They 
suppressed  the  old-German,  the  popularly  traditional 
liberties  both  of  the  states  and  the  cities.  They 
eagerly  adopted  the  system  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  new 
doctrine  of  absolute  power,  and  they  voluntarily  served 
as  organs  of  the  great  Gallic-Roman  reaction  against 
Germanism.  We  have  already  viewed  the  modern 
despotism  of  Louis  XIV.  as  the  result  of  that 
national  reaction.  This  Romance  element  which  had 
so  long  been  vanquished,  and  which  under  the  sacred 
flag  of  the  Roman  hierarchy  had  vainly  battled  against 

VOL.    I.  0 


194  The  Western  Boundary. 

the  German  element,  and  was  again  overwhelmed  by 
the  Reformation,  now  attained  under  the  secular  flag 
of  French  despotism  an  undisputed  victory.  Every 
popular  right,  every  ancient  form  of  popular  represen- 
tation was  destroyed  on  German  soil,  or  was  degraded 
to  an  empty  formality.  All  German  governments 
adopted  the  French  forms,  the  centralization  of  power, 
the  bureaucracy.  In  the  modern  forms  were  now 
repeated  the  forms  of  the  ancient  Roman  empire,  with 
its  vice-regencies  and  prefectures.  Therefore  the  old 
Roman  law,  after  having  long  clashed  with  the 
German  provincial  and  civic  laws,  now  first  gained 
firm  foothold  in  Germany,  which  never  could  have 
happened  had  the  desire  for  absolute  power  not  come 
to  its  assistance. 

At  the  same  time  the  courts  and  nobles  in  Germany 
adopted  the  French  language,  and  were  ashamed  to 
speak  their  good  old  mother-tongue  any  longer.  And 
so  German  literature  was  despised  by  the  nobles,  and 
French  was  introduced  in  its  stead. 

In  the  same  way  strict  German  morality  was  ex- 
pelled from  among  the  princes  and  nobles.  They 
travelled  to  Paris  to  cultivate  themselves,  and  they 
brought  all  sorts  of  fashions  back  to  Germany  with 
them.  Numerous  pleasure  castles,  even  for  the  clergy, 
displayed  to  the  astonished  citizen  and  peasant  in 
Germany  the  resurrected  splendour  and  revelry  of  the 
Roman  heathen  festivities  abounding  in  mythology  and 
debauchery. 

In  this  way  there  vanished  from  the  courts,  and 
from  among  the  nobles,  ancient  and  beautiful  costumes, 
and  this  new  Parisian  fashion  was  imitated  in 
Germany,  first  by  the  nobles,  then  by  the  middle 
class.  To  a  certain  degree  clothes  make  the  man,  so  it 
was  by  no  means  a  matter  of  little  importance  that 
Germany  lowered  itself  and  servilely  donned  the  dis- 
mantled garments  of  the  French.  It  is  moreover  re- 
markable that  the  new  French  fashions,  though  they 


The  Western  Boundary.  195 

were  constantly  changing  without  cause,  were  never 
exchanged  for  beautiful  fashions,  but  on  the  contrary 
always  for  ugly  fashions,  and  altogether  they  were 
patterns  of  every  possible  form  of  unnaturalness,  un- 
wholesomeness,  and  ugliness.  From  extensive  wigs, 
hoop-petticoats  and  ruffles  of  Louis  XIV.'s  time, 
down  to  frocks  and  big  sleeves,  all  French  fashions 
during  those  two  centuries  j)resent  nothing  that  could 
compare  with  the  older  national  costumes  for  dressi- 
ness, elegance,  beauty,  and  appropriateness.  In  this 
compliance  of  Europe  to  the  legislation  of  the  ugly, 
there  is  a  remarkable  example  of  the  irony  of  uni- 
versal history.  At  the  same  time  this  symbolically 
expresses  the  total  unnaturalness  of  the  French  ascen- 
dancy. 

Finally,  French  influence  exerted  a  great  power 
over  German  literature  which  had  apparently  remained 
independent  of  it,  and  had  even  taken  up  sides  against 
it.  It  is  true  that  a  reaction  on  the  part  of  German 
literature  against  the  French  began  with  Lessing,  that 
the  attack  upon  Gottsched,  the  leader  of  the  French 
school,  encouraged  almost  all  the  young  minds  contem- 
poraneous with  and  following  Lessing,  and  gave  new 
impetus  to  German  science  and  poetry.  Although  these 
minds  were  courageously  and  decisively  repelling  the 
direct  influence  of  France,  yet,  without  being  conscious 
of  it,  they  were  subjected  to  its  indirect  influence. 
Without  the  example  of  French  literature,  as  an 
illustration,  German  writers  would  never  have  departed 
so  far  from  the  Christian  point  of  view,  and  so  closely 
approached  the  heathen  antique  position,  as  they  have 
done.  And  without  the  despotic  forms  of  government 
derived  from  France,  German  writers  would  never  have 
departed  so  far  from  a  national  and  patriotic  point  of 
view,  and  been  impelled  to  a  position  so  completely 
individual  on  the  one  side,  so  cosmopolitan  on  the 
other,  as  actually  was  the  case.  After  the  passionate 
struggles  of  the  Reformation,  the  religious  mind  of  the 

0  2 


196  The  Western  Boundary. 

German  schools  also  fell  asleep,  and  nothing  took  its 
place,  except  classical  studies  and  French  fashionable 
literature.  Therefore  the  young  minds  in  Germany 
involuntarily  accustomed  themselves  to  heathen  and 
un- German  models,  and  hardly  conceived  the  richness 
of  German  intellectual  and  artistic  life,  as  it  had  been 
evolved  during  the  middle  ages.  Although  in  their 
opposition  to  the  French  they  began  to  become  con- 
scious of  themselves,  yet  it  •  was  a  consciousness  felt 
only  in  order  to  compete  with  the  French  in  the 
imitation  of  the  antique,  for  they  boasted  that  they 
understood  the  antique  better  than  the  French  ;  and  if 
they  had  a  suspicion  that  that  of  itself  was  not  suffi- 
cient, and  that  art  blossoms  would  spring  up  again 
from  the  German  root  still  more  beautiful  than  those 
already  produced  in  the  hot-house  of  classicism,  they 
did  not  yet  know  how  to  find  this  root  in  their  native 
soil,  and  they  borrowed  all  the  implements  for  Germanic 
reaction  from  their  kinsmen,  the  English. 

The  intellectual  men  of  Germany  were  debarred 
from  all  participation  in  public  affairs,  they  were  ex- 
cluded from  all  co-operation  in  governmental  affairs, 
through  despotic  and  aristocratic  forms  of  government, 
they  were  appointed  to  poor  scholastic  positions  or  to 
pensions  granted  by  the  princes,  they  were  intimidated 
by  the  outer  world,  and  were  driven  to  the  world  of 
imagination.  They  belonged  to  some  independent 
province,  but  as  yet  they  knew  of  the  German  empire 
as  a  whole  only  in  the  form  of  a  caricature,  which 
was  even  then  a  subject  of  ridicule.  Therefore  they 
studied  only  to  gain  some  kind  of  a  livelihood,  to  get 
a  position  in  their  province,  and  by  this  office  to 
become  cosmopolitans.  While  they  were  conscious 
that  they  were  at  one  extreme  of  littleness,  that 
their  vocation  was  an  exceedingly  narrow  and  cir- 
cumscribed one,  they  fell  at  the  same  time  into  the 
other  extreme,  and  sought  an  unbounded  circle  of 
action  for  at  least   their  intellect   and  their   feelings. 


The  Western  Boundary.  197 

They  devoted  themselves  to  the  world  (under  the  then 
favourite  title  of  cosmopolitans,  that  is,  citizens  of  the 
world)  or  to  mankind,  under  the  equally  favourite 
name  of  humanity.  About  German  nationality,  how- 
ever, and  about  the  country's  interests  not  a  word 
was  said.  The  narrow-minded  provincialism  of  the 
common  people  did  not  rise  to  such  a  height,  and 
geniuses  soared  far  beyond  them  into  the  regions  of 
the  universality  of  mankind.  That  explains  why  even 
Lessing,  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  interests  himself 
in  everything  else  excepting  this  war  which  was  de- 
stroying his  country.  That  is  the  reason  why  Goethe 
still  later  took  no  part  in  the  great  events  of  Germany, 
and  felt  only  that  they  unpleasantly  disturbed  his 
poetic  dreams.  Even  Schiller  declares  once  in  a  letter 
to  Korner,  "  patriotism  is  something  limited,  true  genius 
can  never  be  inspired  for  one  nation,  but  only  for  all 
mankind."  The  enthusiasm  which  seized  upon  the 
youth  of  Germany  in  the  latter  half  of  last  century, 
the  so-called  storm  and  stress  period,  was  in  reality 
only  aimed  at  the  emancipation  of  humanity,  or  the 
humane,  and  was  by  no  means  a  national  tendency. 
Nay,  it  was  originally  derived  from  France,  it  was  only 
adopted  from  Rousseau. 

King  Frederick  II.  won  immortal  fame  when  he 
defeated  the  French  at  Rossbach,  and  turned  the  fear 
of  them  into  ridicule.  French  policy,  seizing  every 
opportunity  to  rob  Germany  again,  broke  the  agree- 
ment with  Prussia,  to  which  it  was  indebted  for  Naples 
and  Lorraine,  immediately  after  the  death  of  Charles 
VI.;  it  did  not  recognize  the  beautiful  Maria  Theresa, 
as  his  heir,  and  it  sent  new  armies  to  Germany. 
Meanwhile  Prussia  reconciled  itself  with  Maria  Theresa, 
and  France  went  away  empty-handed.  With  so  much 
the  greater  eagerness  did  France  now  join  the  coali- 
tion of  Austria,  Russia,  Saxony  and  Sweden,  which 
was  intended  to  conquer  and  divide  Prussia.  The 
infamous  plot  was  devised  in  the  heart  of  France,  at 


198  The  Western  Boundary. 

Versailles.  If  it  had  succeeded,  France  would  have 
carried  off  a  part  of  the  booty,  it  would  have  gained  a 
German  district  in  the  west.  But  the  military  genius 
of  Frederick  and  the  stable  loyalty  of  Prussia  frustrated 
the  whole  plan.  The  endangered  state  of  Prussia 
came  out  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  more  gloriously 
than  ever,  and  France  again  got  nothing. 

Yet  by  no  means  did  Frederick  use  the  humiliation 
of  the  French  to  teach  the  Germans  a  great  political 
lesson,  to  explain  to  them  the  faithless  policy  of  France, 
which  never  grew  old,  to  excite  their  animosity  against 
France,  to  tear  away  the  bonds  with  which  French 
thought  and  taste,  French  literature  and  fashion  had 
bound  them.  On  the  contrary,  he  did  everything  to 
establish  and  extend  the  influence  of  those  very  French 
whom  he  had  defeated  on  the  field  of  battle,  whom  he 
had  made  even  ridiculous,  over  German  education  and 
civilization.  He  j^referred  to  read,  speak,  and  write 
French,  he  despised  German  philosophers  and  poets 
(with  a  few  exceptions  hardly  worth  mentioning),  and 
invited  to  his  court  only  French  scholars  and  poets, 
some  of  whom  were  the  most  demoralized  characters. 
He  immediately  favoured  the  most  perfect  freedom  of 
the  press  upon  questions  of  morality  and  religion  (but 
not  upon  political  topics),  and,  as  the  young  emperor, 
Joseph  II.,  followed  his  example,  Germany  was  soon 
flooded  with  translations  and  imitations  of  immoral  and 
irreligious  works  with  which  France  was  then  overflow- 
ing. After  the  death  of  Lessing,  who  had  fought  so 
valiantly  against  the  earlier  Gallic  mania,  a  new,  still 
fiercer  mania  broke  out.  It  was  time  that  the  old  French 
play,  the  beloved  pastoral  scenes,  the  obscene  mythology, 
etc.,  were  banished,  but  in  their  place  appeared  the  new 
French  philosophical  romances  which  were  consistently 
and  intelligently  planned  for  the  complete  destruction 
of  all  the  moral  and  religious  principles  of  society. 
Goethe  and  his  new  school,  just  then  beginning  to 
flourish,  were  unable  to  direct  this  influx  of  French 


The  Western  Boundary.  199 

frivolity,  nor  did  they  wish  to,  but  rather  yielded  to  it 
in  many  respects,  just  as  Wieland  also  had  done  still 
earlier  (and  in  this  respect  he  differed  from  Lessing), 
and  just  as  the  lesser  but  very  popular  poets  were  still 
doing,  for  example,  the  Nicolai  School,  Kotzebue,  etc. 
French  ideas,  however,  had  the  greatest  influence 
upon  the  secret  societies,  among  which  that  of  the 
Illuminati  had  the  definite  purpose  of  causing  the  down- 
fall of  Christianity. 

To  such  an  unlimited  extent  did  French  culture 
prevail  among  us  without  any  influence  from  Germany 
being  felt  in  turn  in  France.  At  that  time  it  was 
assumed  to  be  a  well-known  fact  that  the  French  were 
the  exemplary  people  of  culture,  and  compared  with  the 
other  nations  of  Europe  just  as  the  Greeks  once  did 
with  the  surrounding  barbarians,  Scythians,  etc.  The 
French  not  only  affected  an  inexpressible  scorn  for  the 
Germans,  but  they  actually  overflowed  with  it.  In 
Germany  the  people  were  contented  with  this,  for  the 
great  Frederick  himself  unconditionally  recognized  the 
superiority  of  the  French.  Even  the  more  enlightened 
minds  and  prouder  spirits  of  that  time,  though  they 
censured  much  that  was  French,  and  were  busily 
engaged  in  honouring  what  was  German  in  turn,  allowed 
themselves  to  be  overawed  by  the  fine  language,  and  by 
the  dazzling  ideas  of  the  then  immensely  popular  French 
philosophers  who,  under  the  guidance  of  Rousseau, 
promised  the  renaissance  of  humanity  the  realization 
(jf  an  ideal  government,  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  dreams 
of  world-reformers.  The  philosophical  school  of  Kant 
and  Fichte,  the  rationalism  in  Protestant  theology 
striving  for  supremacy,  many  inspired  poets  and 
historians  shared  in  these  sympathies.  Although 
German  scholarship  and  German  thought  made  them- 
selves otherwise  felt  in  works  of  science  and  in  poetry, 
in  many  ways  independent  of  French  influence,  yet 
there  was  never  at  that  time  a  genuine  national  party 
in  Germany,  there  was  nowhere  a  centre  for  national 


200  The  Western  Boundary. 

opposition  and  reaction  against  the  universal  prevalent 
French  ideas,  nowhere  a  patriotic  consciousness  that 
resolutely  headed  itself  against  the  stream. 

Such  was  the  position  of  Germanism  to  Gallic- 
Romanism,  immediately  preceding  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. 

This  great  event  has,  as  is  well  known,  already  been 
variously  criticized.  French  philosophy  has  boasted 
that  it  had  foreseen  it,  had  prepared  for  it.  But  it  is 
not  so.  The  philosophy,  the  educated  classes,  and 
the  press  were  not  capable  of  improvising  such  a 
catastrophe.  Only  the  bankruptcy  of  the  government, 
and  only  the  extreme  poverty  of  the  lower  classes,  of 
those  very  classes  that  troubled  themselves  least  about 
philosophy  and  literature,  that  were  not  even  able  to 
read,  these  brought  about  the  Revolution,  and  then,  of 
course,  all  the  noble  and  just  passions  of  the  educated 
classes  intermingled  in  it.  These  last  have  been  justly 
accredited  with  having  had  a  great  share  in  this 
terrible  event,  but  it  was  only  a  share  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  same,  not  in  its  origin.  Quite  apart  from 
the  opinions  and  practices  of  the  higher  classes,  the 
Revolution  broke  out  as  a  physical  necessity,  and 
originated  in  the  wretchedness  and  poverty  of  the 
provinces,  not  from  the  intellectual  revelries  of  the 
capital.  In  truth  one  is  bound  to  maintain,  and  this 
was  not  evident  to  people  at  that  time,  that  the 
Revolution  was  a  revival  of  the  old  Franconian,  that  is, 
Germanic  element  of  popular  freedom  and  popular  re- 
presentation, so  long  suppressed  in  France,  a  reaction 
against  the  new  Gallic-Roman  element  of  despotism 
that  arose  with  Louis  XIV.  The  people  simply  desired 
to  recover  the  old  Franconian,  old  Burgundian  consti- 
tution, in  a  word,  the  ancient  German  institutions  of 
primary  assemblies,  of  military  jurisdiction,  of  the  im- 
perial assembly.  Hence  the  agreement  of  the  new  French 
constitution  with  that  of  the  English,  hence  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  representative  system.     Had  the  French 


The  Western  Boundary.  201 

people  been  able  to  act  for  themselves  when  they  began 
this  Revolution,  its  Germanic  character  would  have 
been  still  more  clearly  represented.  But  from  the 
beginning  the  philosophers  of  the  capital  interfered 
with  it,  they  latently  falsified  the  original  character  of 
the  Revolution,  while  they  most  eagerly  gave  their 
services  to  it,  and  obtruded  themselves  upon  it  as  leaders. 
These  philosophers,  with  their  customary  arrogance, 
now  declare  that  the  Revolution  was  by  no  means  a 
reaction  of  freedom-loving  Germanism  against  despotic 
Romanism,  but,  on  the  very  contrary,  a  reaction  of  the 
Gallic-Roman  people,  long  ago  oppressed  by  the  Fran- 
conian  kings  and  nobles,  against  these  same  foreign 
usurpers. 

But  the  French  knew  very  well  what  they  were 
doing  when  they  devised  this  falsehood.  They  intended 
to  rob  the  Germanic  nation  of  the  ancient  glory  of  its 
institutions,  and  to  ascribe  to  themselves  alone  the 
honour  of  having  thus  rediscovered  liberty.  One  need 
not  be  amazed  at  it.  Yet  one  cannot  but  be  surprised 
to  find  that  German  historians  and  politicians  credit 
and  repeat  it.  The  English  also  are  guilty  of  this 
mistake.  Jealous  of  France  they  (with  Edmund  Burke 
at  their  head)  are  wholly  unwilling  to  grant  that  the 
French  Revolution  proceeded  from  a  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  unfortunate  people  for  Germanic  principles,  for  a 
constitution  like  that  of  the  English,  and  they  take 
pleasure  in  unanimously  proclaiming  this  to  be  a  fan- 
tastic imitation  of  ancient  republics. 

These  same  Jacobins  of  the  capital  who  acquired 
control  of  the  Revolution,  and  whose  action,  as  is  well 
known,  naturally  awakened  opposition  in  the  provinces, 
have  also  held  fast  to  the  Gallic-Roman  principle  chiefly 
because  the  French  again  planned  conquests  in  Germany. 
A  number  of  German  Illuminati,  cosmopolitans,  and 
freedom-enthusiasts  rushed  to  meet  them.  These  men, 
in  whom  there  was  not  a  trace  of  national  pride  and 
patriotism,  even  begged  them  to  come  to  Germany  and 


202  The  Western  Boundary. 

to  introduce  here  the  new  French  freedom.  They  vied 
with  one  another  in  offering  them  cities  and  provinces, 
and  besought  them,  as  if  for  a  favour,  to  unite  to 
France  that  basely  betrayed  Mayence,  the  last  bulwark 
on  the  Upper  Rhine  after  the  loss  of  Strasburg.  Even 
Georg  Forster,  the  celebrated  circumnavigator  of  the 
globe,  one  of  the  most  respected  scholars  of  Germany, 
was  conspicuous  in  this  embassy  of  Mayence  citizens, 
traitors  to  their  country. 

All  this  was  natural.  Who  was  willing  to  get 
excited  over  it  ?  Such  consequences  were  unavoid- 
able when  once  all  the  earlier  events  had  taken  place. 
We  described  above  the  feeling  in  Germany  before 
the  Reformation.  The  Illuminati  and  their  friends, 
the  admirers  of  French  literature  and  philosophy, 
were  legion,  and  unfortunately  the  people  of  Germany 
were  so  unused  to  freedom,  especially  scholars  and 
writers  had  learned  to  take  so  little  part  in  the 
political  life  of  their  country,  that  the  novelty  of 
freedom,  the  thought  of  possible  co-operation  in  the 
affairs  of  state  surprised,  electrified,  and  inspired 
them  with  a  manly,  at  the  same  time  childish,  desire 
for  political  activity.  Now,  since  this  was  denied 
them  in  their  own  country,  since  at  the  very  first 
notice  of  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution 
strict  guard  and  police  inspection  were  instituted  in 
Germany,  these  people,  intoxicated  with  freedom, 
emigrated  to  France,  they  betook  themselves  to  Faris 
or  waited  here  at  least  for  the  coming  of  the  salvation. 

The  Jacobins  of  Paris  received  their  German  friends 
very  well  at  first.  They  were  afraid  of  Russia  and 
Austria,  they  were  attacked  by  these  powers,  they 
hoped  to  devise  a  diversion  for  these  poAvers  by  a 
revolution  in  Germany,  and  in  addition  much  weight 
was  laid  on  the  friendship  which  the  German  enthusiasts 
proffered,  them.  They  honoured  the  latter  very 
highly ;  would  one  believe  that  a  Prussian,  Baron 
( 'loots,  became   president  of  the   Jacobin   club,  and  a 


The  Western  Boundary.  203 

Swiss  parson,  Gobel,  became  Archbishop  of  Paris  ? 
The  latter  solemnly  laid  aside  his  priestly  canonicals  in 
the  national  convention  and  forswore  the  Christian 
religion,  an  example  followed  by  the  entire  French 
republic.  But  how  greatly  deceived  were  these 
enthusiasts  when  they  fancied  that  they  could  make 
use  of  the  French,  for  they  themselves  only  were  the 
instruments  of  the  French  !  As  soon  as  the  Jacobins 
perceived  that  the  support  of  the  Illuminati  in 
Germany  was  not  great  enough  to  revolutionize  our 
empire  in  form,  and  since  they,  011  the  other  hand, 
dared  to  hope  for  Prussia's  separation  from  the 
coalition,  they  made  short  work  with  all  those  ob- 
trusive German  enthusiasts  in  Paris,  and  had  them 
repaid  for  their  good  faith  by  scornfully  cutting  off 
their  heads. 

The  policy  of  conquest  was  much  dearer  to  the 
hearts  of  the  French  than  liberty.  The  new  republi- 
cans had  no  scruples  against  flattering  a  king,  a  German 
king,  indeed,  at  the  very  moment  when  they  had 
hardly  ceased  to  assure  the  German  people  of  repub- 
lican liberty.  They  troubled  themselves  little  about 
the  principle  if  it  had  any  profit  in  it. 

And,  unfortunately,  Prussia  entered  into  the  treaty. 
It  was  jealous  of  Austria,  and  it  believed  that  it 
Avas  acting  according  to  the  wish  of  the  great  Fred- 
erick, who  had  recently  died,  when  it  formed  an 
alliance  with  France  against  Austria.  It  surrendered 
itself  to  an  extremely  disastrous  deception. 

Prussia,  the  young  state  in  which  rested  the  future 
of  Germany,  had  to  do  everything  that  served  the 
universal  German  interests,  it  dare  do  nothing  that 
imperiled  the  same.  It  had  to  represent  the  national 
honour  in  opposition  to  the  old  traditional  foe  of  the 
empire,  the  overbearing  neighbour.  It  did  not  dare  to 
assume  an  ambiguous  and,  indeed,  a  hostile  attitude 
towards  the  rest  of  Germany,  it  never  dared  to  make 
a  common  cause  with  the  enemvof  Germanv.     Wisdom 


204  The  Western   Boundary. 

had  already  forbidden  it  to  confide  in  French  friend- 
ship, for  France  had  always  defrauded  its  friends  in 
Germany. 

Prussia,  having  first  outstripped  Austria  in  a  fierce 
contest,  was  now  running  after  France,  and  took  only 
a  lukewarm  part  in  the  war ;  soon  it  stopped  alto- 
gether, and  finally  concluded  the  one-sided  treaty 
with  France  at  Bale,  1795.  By  this  means  Austria 
was  isolated,  repulsed,  defeated.  The  entire  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine  and  the  Netherlands  were  lost  to 
Germany. 

By  means  of  this  well-devised  treaty  of  peace 
with  Prussia  the  French  avoided  the  troublesome  duty 
of  keeping  their  promises  to  the  people.  That 
dangerous  method  of  exciting  the  people  was  no 
longer  necessary  now,  for  the  enemies  of  France  were 
not  to  be  feared  after  the  separation  of  Prussia  from 
the  coalition.  So  they  were  no  longer  bound  by  the 
promise  to  liberate  the  people.  Now  they  could 
again  make  conquests  and  rob  the  rich  frontier  lands 
of  the  German  empire  in  the  old-fashioned  way  without 
being  the  least  ashamed  of  it.  So  the  Netherlands, 
Holland,  the  Rhenish  electorates,  the  Palatinate,  and, 
soon  afterwards,  Switzerland,  were  not  liberated  by  the 
brotherly  league,  as  had  been  promised,  but  they  were 
hostilely  vanquished  and  overrun  with  a  military  and 
civil  army  of  robbers,  that  plundered  by  force  all 
the  public  and  private  wealth  of  the  countries  mentioned, 
or  understood  how  to  steal  it  away  with  the  skill  and 
trickery  of  financial  magicians.  The  French  com- 
missioners thought  of  everything,  took  everything. 

The  Netherlanders  and  Hollanders  and  citizens  of 
Treves  protested  in  vain.  The  French  had  declared 
that  they  wished  only  to  free  them,  to  salute  them  as 
a  free  people,  had  solemnly  promised  them  their  auton- 
omy, free  elections,  independence,  republican  honour, 
republican  happiness — and  now  they  treat  them  like 
conquered  enemies,  they  take  everything  away,  do  not 


The  Western  Boundary.  205 

allow  free  elections,  brutally  dictate  to  them  and  leave 
them  nothing  but  blind  obedience.  If  they  had  to 
exchange  merely  one  form  of  tyranny  for  another  and 
a  bad  condition  for  a  worse,  why  did  they  promise 
them  liberty  ? 

After  that  the  provinces  of  Germany  across  the 
Rhine  were  plundered  of  everything ;  they  kept,  of 
course,  their  political  and  civil  institutions  which,  in 
comparison  with  the  earlier  state  of  affairs,  must  be 
looked  upon  as  an  improvement,  as  a  salutary  reform. 
However,  people  were  deceived  as  regards  the  origin 
of  these  institutions.  They  received  them  as  something 
altogether  new,  which  could  have  been  invented  only 
by  French  ingenuity,  or  which  were  results  of  the 
ancient  republicanism  born  again  in  France.  But  they 
were  nothing  else  than  old  Germanic  institutions, 
borrowed  first  of  all  from  England,  where  old  German 
liberty  has  been  preserved  in  its  purest  and  most 
ancient  form.  The  jury,  for  example,  was  neither 
something  new,  exclusively  French,  nor  something 
antique,  but  an  English,  originally  a  Germanic  institu- 
tion, which  had  formerly  been  developed  among  the 
Franks  as  among  all  German  tribes. 

The  Swiss  were  the  most  miserable  at  that  time. 
For  centuries  they  had  pursued  an  anti-national  policy 
against  Germany,  they  had  wronged  their  German 
kinsmen  in  every  way,  the  French  they  had  favoured 
in  every  way.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Swiss  had 
fallen  from  time  to  time  while  fighting  for  France,  in 
the  wars  of  the  Reformation,  of  Louis  XIV.  and 
XV.  They  had  shed  their  life's  blood  to  make  France 
great.  As  Germans  they  had  fought  against  Germans 
in  order  that  France,  laughing  both  to  scorn,  should 
alone  succeed.  Now  they  were  earning  their  reward. 
In  vain  did  they  explain  that  they  had  long,  long  been 
free,  ever  since  the  time  of  William  Tell,  that  it  was 
not  at  all  necessary  that  the  French  should  come  with 
the  pretext  of  liberating  them  now  for  the  first  time. 


2o6  The  Western  Boundary. 

They  humbly  prayed  that  the  French  would  not 
liberate  them.  "  Be  silent/'  was  the  command,  "  you 
must  let  yourselves  be  freed."  So  the  French  came, 
conquered  the  country,  ruled  it  by  their  own  creatures, 
did  not  observe  free  elections,  declared  those  null  which 
had  been  boldly  held,  notwithstanding,  and  stole,  stole 
like  the  ravens.  With  the  millions  which  were  seized 
here  Bonaparte  equipped  the  navy  and  army  with 
which  he  went  to  Egypt,  and  Copts  and  Arabs  tested 
the  value  of  the  old  gold  pieces  of  Bern  on  the  foot  of 
the  pyramids. 

As  soon  as  France  had  assured  itself  of  the  conquest 
of  the  entire  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  and  Italy,  it  ceased 
to  be  republic.  Both  events  resulted  from  the  same 
cause.  The  French  people  dissatisfied,  passionately 
enraged  against  king  and  nobility,  embittered  with  the 
intendants  and  financial  frauds,  were  revenged  by  the 
death  of  the  king  and  by  the  emigration  of  the  nobles  ; 
the  bankruptcy  of  the  state  had  been  averted,  and 
besides,  they  had  now  conquered  the  neighbouring- 
lands  and  had  enriched  themselves  with  the  booty.  So 
the  people  were  now  satisfied.  What  need  had  they 
now  of  the  phantom  of  the  republic  ?  Napoleon  blew 
it  away  by  a  breath.  Napoleon  alone  was  now  the 
man  of  the  nation,  for  he  understood,  as  a  French  king 
before  him  never  had,  how  to  flatter  the  two  chief 
passions  of  the  nation,  desire  for  fame  and  covetousness. 
He  led  them  to  victory  everywhere,  and  he  gave  them 
the  plundered  booty  of  all  countries. 

The  poor  German  empire !  It  had  to  behold  all 
these  changes  in  France  and  to  suffer  anew  under  each 
of  them.  Under  how  many  false  pretences,  for  what 
totally  opposing  principles  had  the  French  not  come  to 
us  already,  in  order  to  rob  under  the  mask  of  giving 
us  assistance  !  That  ancient  kingdom  of  Burgundy 
they  tore  from  us  in  the  name  of  the  pope  and  of  the 
only  saving  church.  The  bishoprics  of  Lorraine  and 
Alsace  they  tore  from  us  in  the  name  of  the  Reforma- 


The  Western  Boundary.'  207 

tion,  as  the  protectors  of  the  Lutherans.  Strasburg 
and  the  republic  of  Holland  they  seized  in  the  name  of 
the  absolute  monarchy.  Spain,  Naples,  Burgundy,  and 
Lorraine  they  won  in  the  name  of  legitimacy,  and 
finally  Holland,  the  Netherlands,  the  entire  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine,  and  Switzerland  they  united,  or  allied  at 
least  most  closely  with  France,  in  the  name  of  liberty 
and  of  the  republican  principle.  Four  times  they 
changed  that  principle,  but  with  each  change  they 
stole  away  land  from  us.  And  so  it  was  at  least  certain 
that  Napoleon  no  longer  needed  an  excuse,  that  he 
discarded  the  hypocritical  mask  of  principles  and 
openly  appeared  as  a  robber,  when  he  made  interest 
alone  answer  the  purpose  of  policy  and  despised  no 
means  to  attain  that  end. 

Napoleon  stole  into  the  hearts  of  the  French,  and  he 
will  always  dwell  there,  not  only  because  he  was  a 
great  man,  but  still  more  because  he  most  boldly  ex- 
pressed and  accomplished  what  all  the  French  think 
and  desire,  because  by  his  very  greatness  he  excused 
the  odiousness  of  covetousness,  which  is  the  secret  of 
their  nationality.  One  may  say  what  one  will,  but 
Napoleon  has  to  thank  his  genius  for  the  admiration  of 
the  French,  but  for  their  love  he  has  to  thank  only 
his  profound  immorality. 

In  Germany  this  great  military  genius  found  half  the 
work  already  done.  The  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  to- 
gether with  both  our  flanks,  Holland  on  one  side, 
Switzerland  on  the  other,  had  already  been  torn  from 
us,  Prussia  was  already  separated  from  Austria,  and 
was  neutral  when  Napoleon  drove  the  steeds  of  his 
chariot  of  victory  for  the  first  time  over  the  plains  of 
Germany.  Had  he  been  half  the  great  man  that  he 
actually  was,  he  would  have  overpowered  us.  Our 
empire  was  not  accustomed  to  valiant  uprisings  and 
popular  summons,  but,  rather  to  the  contrary,  to 
cowardly  fear,  cringing  obedience,  and  humiliation. 
No    matter    to    whom    it    humbled    itself.     Warlike 


208  The  Western  Boundary. 

Prussia  did  nothing  for  the  rescue  of  the  empire, 
it  rather  hindered  it  by  its  neutrality,  which  was 
almost  equivalent  to  an  alliance  with  France,  and 
Austria  alone  had  already  shed  half  its  life  blood, 
having  fought  under  the  leadership  of  its  ancient  im- 
perial house  with  the  noblest  endurance  and  loyalty. 

The  consequences  are  well  known.  The  western 
part  of  the  empire  was  formed  into  a  new  Rhenish 
confederacy  like  the  former,  under  the  protectorate 
of  France,  and  with  the  special  advantage  to  Germany, 
that  even  the  last  remnants  of  state  and  municipal 
liberty  were  destroyed,  and  a  completely  despotic  form 
of  government  was  introduced  everywhere.  Austria 
was  robbed  of  its  western  and  southern  provinces. 
Prussia  reaped  the  same  gratitude  from  France  that 
Switzerland  had  earlier  ;  it  was  rewarded  for  its  loyalty 
with  abuse  and  insult ;  finally  it  was  cast  out  and 
almost  ruined. 

If  Prussia  had  not  concluded  the  treaty  of  Bale,  had 
it  rendered  loyal  aid  to  Austria,  had  it  also  encouraged 
the  rest  of  the  imperial  allies,  and  had  it  used  before- 
hand the  abundance  of  men  and  money  (among  the 
nobler  classes),  then  in  the  j)ossession  of  Germany,  for 
great  united  efforts  against  France,  instead  of  letting 
this  abundance  soon  afterwards  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  French,  France  would  have  been  conquered, 
perhaps  ;  at  least,  it  would  have  been  forced  to  make  a 
fair  treaty  of  peace.  But  Prussia  did  nothing ;  and 
this  right  wing  of  the  German  situation  quietly  beheld 
how  the  left  one  (Austria)  was  broken.  That  Napo- 
leon would  also  fall  at  once  upon  the  right  wing,  which 
could  no  longer  be  aided  by  the  broken  left  one,  hence 
must  be  conquered,  Prussia  could  easily  have  imagined. 
Will  Germany,  indeed,  ever  understand  that  it  is  always 
important  for  France  to  smite  one  half  of  Germany 
through  the  other  or  after  the  other,  as  it  has  never 
been  able  to  manage  the  whole  ? 

Meanwhile,  although  under  the  present  circumstances 


The  Western  Boundary.  209 

Napoleon  easily  got  the  better  of  Germany,  an  inner 
presentiment  said  to  him,  nevertheless,  these  obedient 
subjects,  these  amiable  neighbours  that  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  beaten  on  both  sides  like  drams,  these 
phlegmatic  Germans,  and  he  was  fond  of  honouring  them 
with  the  title  "Dummheit"  (stupidity),  are  not  to  be 
wholly  trusted,  sometimes  there  can  be  a  thunderstorm 
among  them,  and  the  lightning  may  strike  him.  There- 
fore, he  not  only  took  steps  to  divide  the  Germans,  to 
estrange  the  various  tribes  of  the  same  people  from  one 
another  more  than  they  had  been,  to  natter  the  one, 
to  terrify  the  other,  and  on  the  whole  to  weaken  them, 
to  keep  the  German  press  under  the  strictest  censor- 
ship, to  check  personal  freedom  by  the  police,  an  in- 
stitution of  this  kind  almost  new  in  Germany,  etc.,  but 
he  also  believed  that  a  great  European  offensive  and 
defensive  alliance  of  Romanism  and  Slavism  was 
necessary  in  order  to  hold  Germanism  securely  down. 
Therefore  he  formed  his  close  alliance  with  Emperor 
Alexander  in  the  year  1807. 

This  alliance  of  the  Romans  and  Slavs  had  been 
planned  already  between  Louis  XIV.  and  Peter  the 
Great  for  the  destruction  of  Germany.  Only  because 
the  one  took  Alsace,  could  the  other  take  Livland. 
Now  the  ruin  of  Germany  was  carried  on  about  a 
century  longer.  The  French  ruled  not  only  on  the 
Rhine,  but  also  on  the  Elbe,  and  the  Russians  already 
held  Livland,  Kusland,  Eschland,  and  almost  all  Poland, 
and  he  also  took  Finland. 

If  this  alliance  had  lasted  longer,  Germany  would 
have  been  completely  destroyed  by  it,  for  no  one  would 
have  dared  to  oppose  this  coalition  if  it  had  declared, 
"  Prussia  has  ceased  to  exist."  Even  Austria  would 
have  had  to  succumb.  It  is  not  improper  for  us  to 
recall  what  humiliations  befell  our  honourable,  ancient, 
princely  houses  at  Erfurt  and  Dresden,  how  insolently 
they  were  treated  by  the  French,  and  no  less  by  the 
Russians,  for  Alexander  had  not  so  much  delicacy  as  to 

vol.  1.  p 


210  The  Western  Boundary. 

be  absent  from  the  great  hare-hunt  which  Napoleon  had 
prepared  in  the  battle-field  of  Jena,  two  years  after  the 
battle.  One  may  and  should,  in  truth,  think  of  such 
insults,  in  order  that  one  may  recall  also  from  time  to 
time  what  there  is  to  do  to  prevent  their  return. 

The  slow,  gradual  annihilation  of  the  last  remnant  of 
independence  possessed  by  the  German  princes  and  the 
German  nation,  which  would  have  inevitably  followed, 
if  France  and  Russia  had  remained  united  for  a  time, 
was  fortunately  spared  us  ;  not,  however,  by  our  own 
merit,  but  by  the  miraculous  dispensation  of  God — 
Russia  and  France  begrudged  each  other  the  booty, 
and  became  enemies. 

If  this  was  a  great  stroke  of  good  fortune  for  Ger- 
many for  which  we  are  not  able  to  thank  heaven  enough, 
yet  there  is  associated  with  it  a  reflection  of  the  most 
painful  nature.  Never  before,  during  the  two  thousand 
years  that  German  history  has  been  recorded,  were  all 
Germans  subject  to  the  will  of  a  foreigner.  Never  had 
the  Romans  forced  us  to  yield  ;  Attila  himself  had 
subdued  only  a  part  of  the  Germans,  the  others  fought 
under  independent  princes  against  him  and  conquered 
him.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  year  1812,  were  all 
Germans,  without  exception,  obliged  to  serve  a  foreign 
master ;  all  German  states,  without  exception,  had  to 
furnish  soldiers  to  a  foreign  lord,  and  to  submit  to  the 
command  of  a  foreigner,  in  order  to  fight  for  a  foreign 
cause. 

When  this  disgrace  of  a  nation,  which  for  two 
thousand  years  had  been  the  sovereign  of  Europe, 
became  evident,  heaven  itself  seemed  to  find  it  unen- 
durable, and  gave  its  sign  to  remind  men  what  they 
ought  to  have  done  even  with  its  aid.  Truly,  those 
great  natural  terrors  that  announced  the  fall  of 
Napoleon  cause  the  German  nation  to  be  deeply 
ashamed. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  nation  started  up  in 
wild   rage,   ardent  for  vengeance,   terrible   as  nature 


The  Western  Boundary.  2 1 1 

whose  sign  it  had  seen.  But  the  enthusiasm  came, 
indeed,  somewhat  late.  We  are  obliged  to  ask,  with 
amazement,  why  did  the  Germans  now  first  do  what 
they  could  have  done  long  before  ?  How  many  provinces, 
how  many  millions  of  money  had  the  Germans  allowed 
to  be  seized  from  them  since  the  times  of  Louis  XIV.  ? 
With  the  means,  which  they  had  negligently  sur- 
rendered to  the  French,  they  could  have  pursued  the 
latter  even  across  the  Seine  more  than  a  hundred  years 
before.  A  union  of  the  princes,  a  general  summons  of 
the  people  could  have  taken  place  much  earlier,  and 
would  have  had  just  as  favourable  a  result  as  in  the 
year  1813. 

However,  it  is  a  natural  characteristic  of  the  German 
people  that  they  take  time  in  all  matters.  They  com- 
pleted the  Reformation,  too,  after  a  long  trial  of 
patience.  What  necessity  did  was  done  at  last,  though 
tardily.  The  German  princes  united,  the  German 
people  arose  en  masse,  and  more  was  not  needed  to 
conquer  France's  entire  force  and  the  hero  of  the 
century.  The  zeal  and  the  talent  of  the  German 
generals,  the  enthusiasm  and  bravery  of  the  armies 
themselves  were  extraordinary,  and  especially  so,  in- 
deed, because  the  war  was  waged  by  the  entire  nation 
as  such.  This  gave  it  the  emphasis,  this  the  rare 
enthusiasm,  and  this  sent  that  terror  before  the  armies 
which  nothing  resists.  When  such  a  great  people  as 
the  Germans  become  angered  and  arise  in  a  body, 
France  must  tremble  even  though  it  had  ten  Napo- 
leons. 

People  and  army  waged  the  war  purely  as  a  national 
war.  At  that  time  not  only  Napoleon  was  hated,  but 
the  French  also.  Since,  however,  the  German  govern- 
ments did  not  conduct  the  war  alone,  though  the 
German  armies  alone  decided  the  issue,  since  Russia 
especially  had  great  influence,  and  Russia  was  more 
afraid  of  an  increase  of  German  power,  because  the 
Germans  were  nearer,  than  the  continuance  of  a  strong 

p  2 


212  The  Western  Boundary. 

French  state  which  was  more  distant  and  could  be  of 
future  service  to  Russia  against  Germany  ;  in  the  very 
midst  of  the  war  itself  diplomacy  was  already  planning 
not  to  allow  the  victory  of  the  Germans  over  the  French 
to  go  too  far.  This  was  expressed  in  the  explanation 
that  the  war  was  not  a  national  war,  not  a  war  against 
France,  but  only  against  the  person  of  Napoleon. 

Upon  this  understanding  also  the  treaty  was  con- 
cluded. The  opportunity  was  offered  Germany  to 
revenge  with  one  blow  all  the  injuries  which  it  had 
suffered  for  centuries  from  France,  to  take  back  all  the 
provinces  that  had  been  torn  from  the  German  empire. 
But  this  opportunity  was  not  used.  France  kept  not 
only  Italian  Burgundy  and  Italian  Lorraine,  but  also 
German  Alsace  and  German  Lorraine.  It  kept  Stras- 
burg,  the  key  of  Upper  Germany.  Also  the  potent 
messenger  of  conquered  France  sat  in  the  congress  of 
Vienna  and  in  judgment  over  Germany,  for  example, 
over  the  division  of  Saxony,  while  no  representative  of 
a  German  principality  was  allowed  to  meddle  with  the 
matter  of  the  new  French  constitution. 

In  the  meantime  the  new  constitution  of  France  was 
made  to  copy  the  English ;  a  constitutional  king  with 
two  houses,  etc.,  thus  again  essentially  Germanic  in 
its  nature.  After  the  great  tragic  comedy  of  the 
Renaissance,  the  antique  republic  and  the  antique 
despotism  had  been  played  out,  a  return  was  made  to 
the  original  want  which  had  caused  the  Revolution, 
namely,  to  the  need  of  Germanic  guaranties,  of  old 
Frankish  popular  representation  according  to  the 
classes. 

Germany  had  exerted  all  its  force  to  win  the  victory, 
but  not  to  employ  the  victory  equally  as  well.  How- 
ever, the  simple  fact  that  the  entire  French  force,  all 
French  pride,  all  the  military  genius  of  France  were 
not  a  match  for  a  popular  call  of  the  Germans,  was  well 
worth  knowing.  It  demonstrated  to  the  French  what 
Germany  was  able  to  do  if  it  wished.     It  instilled  a 


The  Western  Boundary.  213 

shyness  into  them,  but  it  tempted  us  to  dare.  It 
taught  their  heads  to  reflect  that  if  the  Germans  some 
time  in  the  future  should  be  inclined  to  make  a  general 
call  against  France  once  again,  the  victory  would  be 
just  as  little  doubtful,  but  that  afterwards  this  victory 
would  be  employed  perhaps  more  to  the  advantage  of 
Germany,  and  to  the  loss  of  France,  than  this  first 
one. 

It  was  equally  dangerous  to  leave  the  French  so 
much  power,  yes,  indeed,  to  leave  it  in  possession  of 
German  provinces  and  so  important  a  military-political 
outpost  as  Strasburg.  It  was  dangerous  to  make  only 
Napoleon  the  scape-goat,  and  to  heap  upon  him  all  the 
curse  and  to  spare  France  itself,  for  history  teaches  that 
Napoleon  only  continued  the  wrong  the  French  kings 
long  before  him  had  done  us.  Napoleon  was  not  the 
first  cause  and  France  the  second  cause,  but  France 
was  the  first  cause  and  Napoleon  the  second  cause. 
Napoleon  was  a  passing  event,  France  was  permanent. 
With  France  we  had  to  do  centuries  before,  and  with 
France  we  shall  have  to  do  centuries  to  come.  Hence 
it  is  not  a  question  of  the  weakening  of  Napoleon,  but 
of  France. 

Wholly  apart  from  the  internal  political  arrangement 
of  the  newly-established  German  confederacy,  it  was 
without  doubt  in  the  interest  of  all  German  states  that 
France  was  weakened,  that  at  least  it  did  not  retain 
Strasburg  and  the  German  provinces.  As  regards  this 
boundary  question  it  is  quite  immaterial  how  the  union 
of  the  German  states  is  arranged  internally.  Whether 
Germany  is  an  empire  or  a  confederation  of  many  states, 
whether  the  form  of  government  is  an  absolute  mon- 
archy or  a  constitutional  one,  is  of  no  account,  but  it 
must  always  seek  to  insure  itself  against  attacks  from 
the  neighbour  on  the  west,  and,  once  for  all,  to  fix  the 
western  boundary  which  has  been  jeopardized  so  many 
times. 

But,  unfortunately,  the  external  question  has  been 


214  The  Western  Boundary. 

forgotten  on  account  of  the  internal  one.  The  conten- 
tion over  how  Germany  is  to  be  constructed  internally 
has  taken  the  attention  from  that  far  more  important 
contention  over  the  boundary.  They  did  not  reflect 
that  there  is  no  lack  of  time  in  undertaking  internal 
reforms,  but  that  incalculable  time  will  never  replace 
the  loss  of  frontier  provinces  which  they  now  have  and 
surrender  again  in  an  unexpected  moment. 

If,  however,  we  turn  from  Germany  and  fix  our  at- 
tention upon  France  only,  it  becomes  as  manifest  as 
daylight  that  France  owes  only  gratitude  to  the  German 
powers  which,  as  conquerors,  passed  such  a  generous 
sentence  upon  it,  and  left  it  so  many  advantages  at  the 
cost  of  Germany.  Never  was  a  foe  more  kindly  and 
sparingly  treated  than  were  the  French  at  that  time 
by  the  Germans. 

But  the  French  are  unwilling  to  acknowledge  this. 
The  plain  facts  speak,  but  they  are  unwilling  to  hear 
anything.  They  behave  as  if  a  great  wrong  had  been 
done  them. 

The  French  Revolution  ended  with  the  satisfaction 
of  the  want  that  had  called  it  into  existence.  The 
foreign,  especially  German  powers,  were  so  generous 
as  not  to  disturb  this  natural  development  in  any  way. 
France  kept  the  Germanic  legal  guaranties  which  it 
had  desired  in  the  year  1789,  a  constitution,  a  con- 
stitutional king,  responsible  ministers,  two  houses, 
equality  before  the  law,  freedom  of  the  press,  public 
administration  of  justice,  etc.,  as  England  has.  It 
could  be  satisfied  with  these  in  1815  also,  and  in  1830 
they  were  continued.  The  July  Revolution  proved 
that  these  Germanic  legal  guaranties  answered  the 
actual  need  of  the  French  people,  for  they  survived  it. 
The  anti-Germanic  Romance  party  did  not  succeed  in 
overthrowing  these,  although  it  strived  to  do  so  in  a 
double  manner  when  it  wished  to  restore  by  the 
decrees  the  despotic  system  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  by  the 
republican  and  Bonapartian  uprisings,  the  convention 


The  Western  Boundary.  215 

and  the  empire,  those  two  ghostly  regenerations  of  the 
old  Roman  world. 

Meanwhile  Romanism  gave  vent  to  its  indignation 
in  the  free  press  everywhere.  It  first  invoked  national 
honour,  the  old  need  of  fame  and  the  warlike  dispo- 
sition in  which  this  is  rooted.  Then  it  invoked  the 
equally  ancient  covetousness  of  the  nation,  the  lust  to 
enrich  itself  with  foreign  possessions.  Re-conquest  of 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  and  of  the  Netherlands  was 
the  Avatchword  of  the  "  National,"  and  from  time  to 
time  was  regularly  re-echoed  in  the  houses  of  congress 
also.  The  same  idea  was  made  the  basis  of  numerous 
historical  works  and  memoirs  which  were  disseminated 
in  France  and  over  all  Europe,  and  in  which  the  deeds 
of  the  grand  army  and  the  majesty  of  the  empire  were 
recalled  to  the  memory  of  the  French  with  all  the 
colours  of  an  ardent  imagination.  By  these  means, 
which  should  have  aroused  national  feeling,  men  fought 
at  the  same  time  against  the  foreign  policy  of  the  citi- 
zens' kino;  and  against  the  foreign  land  itself.  Now 
they  wished  to  warn,  then  to  terrify. 

But  since  the  citizens'  king  was  supported  by  the 
majority  of  proprietors,  of  fathers  of  the  house  and 
family  with  whom  the  need  of  the  simple  Germanic 
legal  guaranties  is  greater  than  the  Romance  desire  for 
war,  Romanism  pointed  a  special  weapon  against  these 
citizens,  namely,  the  republican  weapon.  In  opposition 
to  the  constitutional  monarchy,  which  is  favourable  to 
the  citizen  class,  he  demanded  democracy,  the  political 
emancipation  of  the  proletarian,  in  a  word,  the  mob 
rule,  as  in  the  year  1793.  He  wished  to  destroy  the 
government  of  the  proprietors  which  dissatisfied  him, 
by  the  revolt  of  the  non-proprietors.  In  behalf  of  this 
he  harangued  the  crowd  with  old  cosmopolitan 
theorems  in  the  new  form  of  St.  Simonism,  with  the 
ideal  of  the  republic  of  workmen,  etc.,  and  he  awakened 
at  the  same  time  the  bloody  remembrances  of  the  reign 
of  terror,  partly  in  order  to  accustom  the  mob  again 


216  The  Western  Boundary. 

to  cannibalistic  appetites,  to  fill  them  with  horrible 
passions,  partly  in  order  to  make  the  peaceful  citizens 
afraid. 

Since  furthermore  a  happy  home-life  and  the  sanctity 
of  marriage  are  the  chief  supports  of  citizenship, 
Romanism  pointed  its  weapons  against  these  also,  and 
declared  open  warfare  against  marriage  and  morals  and 
at  the  same  time,  of  course,  against  Christianity,  just 
as  it  did  before  in  the  first  Revolution.  All  the  impiety 
and  obscenity  of  the  older  Voltaireian  school  were  rum- 
maged up  again,  the  immoral  literature  of  the  earlier 
times  was  scattered  abroad  in  new  publications,  and 
was  supplemented  by  numberless  new  books  of  the 
same  kind.  The  theatre  courted  these  Jacobin  ten- 
dencies. Crime  and  lewdness  were  introduced  upon 
the  French  stage,  after  the  order  of  the  day,  just  as  in 
the  pleasure  writings. 

Finally,  as  the  internal  revolutionary  attempts  and 
the  oft-repeated  murderous  plots  against  the  life  of  the 
king  amounted  to  nothing,  minister  Thiers  succeeded 
in  bringing  about  a  war  with  a  foreign  power,  and 
although  the  breaking  out  of  the  same  was  hindered 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  king,  yet  this  event  had 
necessarily  started  great  activity  among  the  neigh- 
bours, and  especially  in  Germany.  Despite  the  wisdom 
of  the  king  the  war  cry  was  louder  in  France  than 
ever,  and  men  of  the  most  diverse  parties  agreed  in 
this  matter.  No  longer  did  merely  the  "  National," 
no  longer  merely  the  proletarian  and  beautiful-haired 
lounger-ab out- town  of  Paris  desire  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  but  a  minister  himself,  honourable  peers,  ex- 
tremely conservative  deputies  cried  in  the  same  tone. 
On  the  other  hand  was  heard  remonstrated — now  is 
not  the  time  to  think  of  conquests  in  opposition  to  all 
Europe  in  arms,  but  not  a  voice  was  heard  to  lift  itself 
against  the  right  and  morality  of  conquest.  That 
France  actually  had  a  right  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine    and   that    the    Rhine    was    France's    natural 


The  Western  Boundary.  217 

boundary,  was  everywhere  in  France  regarded  as  well 
known,  as  something  that  was  a  matter  of  course. 

Even  though  peace  is  continued,  the  younger  gene- 
ration in  France  is  bred  to  believe  that  it  has  a  sacred 
right  to  the  Rhine,  and  its  mission  is  to  make  it, 
at  the  first  opportunity,  the  boundary  of  France. 
"  The  Rhine  boundary  must  be  a  reality,"  that  is  the 
theme  for  the  future  of  France. 

We  think  that  we  have  sufficiently  proved  in  the 
preceding  historical  discussion  that  France  has  not 
the  slightest  legal  claim  to  the  Rhine  boundary.  But 
we  also  know  very  well  that  all  that  has  been  said  to 
the  French  about  it  has  been  like  talking  to  the  wind. 
They  will  not  hear.  The  more  plainly  ail  the  proofs 
of  history  and  nature  and  all  the  arguments  of  reason 
and  morals  speak  against  them,  the  less  are  they 
willing  to  hear  of  them. 

So  it  only  remains  to  be  seen  whether  Germany  is 
strong  enough,  and  will  remain  so,  to  reject  by  force  the 
illegal  claims  of  France  under  all  circumstances.  It 
is  truly  lamentable  that  after  we  have  been  neighbours 
of  two  thousand  years  standing,  after  we  have  received 
so  many  blows  from  the  French  and  given  them  so 
many  back  in  turn,  they,  notwithstanding,  have  not 
yet  been  able  to  bring  themselves  to  understand  their 
true  position  to  us.  The  study  of  history  flourishes  in 
France  as  with  us,  a  thousand  means  and  avenues  to 
intelligence  are  open,  and  yet  such  a  blinded  passion- 
ateness  prevails  among  the  French  that  they  intention- 
ally deceive  themselves  with  an  illusion  and  disdain 
to  see  the  truth,  even  in  its  brightest  daylight. 

Thoughtful  reflection,  reason,  justice,  and  fairness, 
which  ought  to  be  present  in  the  intercourse  of  two 
such  old  and  powerful  neighbours,  and  which  we  are 
always  ready  to  keep,  are  despised  by  the  French. 
Only  might  shall  decide  ;  whenever  they  differ  with 
us,  they  seize  the  sword.  History  must  vanish  in 
all   directions    before    the    passion   of    the    moment. 


2i8  The  Western  Boundary. 

Future  clangers  are  despised  just  as  past  experiences 
are  trampled  under  foot.  Desire  rushes  upon  its  object 
in  spite  of  everything,  indifferent  as  to  who  will  perish 
thereby. 

Even  though  we  are  strong  enough  to  drive  away 
might  with  might,  yet  it  is  sad  to  see  the  darkness  of 
rude,  barbarous  passion,  and  the  domain  of  unreasonable 
force  again  impend  threateningly  over  us,  after  so 
many  experiences  and  in  the  century  of  the  greatest 
enlightenment.  But  who  warrants  us  that  some  weak- 
ness will  not  sometime  come  upon  us,  that  we  shall  not 
be  involved  in  some  conflict  of  internal  or  external  policy 
wherein  our  vigilance  and  our  strength  will  be  relaxed  ? 
What  have  we  then  to  fear  from  a  neighbour  who 
knows  no  right  but  might,  and  who  is  not  ashamed 
openly  to  confess  that  he,  to-day  even,  as  in  the  cen- 
turies of  fist-combats,  is  only  on  the  watch  to  find  us 
once  weak,  disunited,  or  unguarded,  in  order  to  fall 
upon  us  again  and  rob  us  ? 

Therefore  it  is  our  task,  if  we  cannot  instruct  the  old 
wicked  neighbour,  to  make  our  good  right  perfectly 
clear  to  ourselves  at  least,  to  bring  the  whole  body  of 
the  German  nation  to  consciousness.  To  no  German 
must  it  be  hidden  or  remain  indifferent  that  if  France 
and  Germany  ever  come  to  settle  with  each  other  all 
debit  is  on  his  side  and  all  credit  on  ours.  We  have 
to  demand  of  France  only  what  it  has  wrongfully  torn 
from  us.  France,  on  the  other  hand,  has  nothing  to 
demand  of  us,  not  a  hamlet,  not  a  tree.  The  Rhine  is, 
as  Arndt  has  said  briefly  and  well,  Germany's  river, 
not  Germany's  boundary.  If  we  argue  from  historical 
right,  then  everything  that  France  has  gained  on  its 
eastern  frontier  since  the  thirteenth  century,  has  been 
robbed  from  Germany,  then  all  Burgundian  and 
Lorrainian  lands  are  our  old  property  wrongfully 
seized  upon,  and  we  should  have  accordingly  still  more 
to  reclaim  than  the  boundary  fixed  by  the  language. 
If  we  argue  from  the  national  point  of  view  and  make 


The  Western  Boundary.  219 

the  language  the  national  boundary  of  the  nations, 
then  the  entire  Rhine  belongs  to  us,  its  whole  bank  on 
the  left  and  right,  for  German  has  been  spoken  in  the 
whole  river-district  of  the  Rhine  for  fourteen 
centuries ;  accordingly,  France  would  not  have  to 
claim  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  from  us,  but  we  should 
have  to  claim  Alsace  and  Lorraine  from  it.  If,  finally, 
we  argue  from  positive  right  as  it  has  been  fixed 
by  the  last  treaties,  then  France  has  sanctioned  indeed 
its  unjust  possession  of  Lorraine  and  Alsace  by  means 
of  these,  but  these  treaties  exclude  France  from  every 
claim  to  the  other  parts  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine. 
But  if  France  no  longer  recognizes  the  treaties  of  1814 
and  1815,  the  only  legal  titles  that  have  secured  to  it 
its  old  theft  from  Germany,  and  which  we  have  always 
honestly  recognized,  though  they  were  very  detri- 
mental to  us,  if  France  itself  breaks  these  treaties  and 
begins  war,  then  we  ought  to  unite  with  the  firm 
determination,  as  God  wills  and  as  He  grants  victory 
to  the  righteous  cause,  never  again  to  make  those 
treaties  the  basis  of  a  new  peace,  and  not  to  sheathe 
the  sword  until  our  whole  right  has  become  ours,  until 
France  has  paid  its  whole  debt  to  us. 

Our  task  is  further  to  educate  more  intelligently  and 
more  thoroughly  the  political  sense  which  seems  to 
return  gradually  among  us,  after  that  we  have  lost  it 
for  centuries,  that  is,  to  view  all  the  questions  of  the 
day,  be  it  the  discussion  of  a  principle  or  of  some  par- 
ticular point  of  interest,  from  a  higher  national  point 
of  view,  and  never  to  forget  the  external  policy  because 
of  internal  differences.  This  forgetfulness  alone  has 
been  the  source  of  all  our  misfortune.  Only  because 
we  Germans  were  quarrelling  among  ourselves  about 
opinions,  or  about  provincial  interests  and  thereby  for- 
got to  jDrotect  our  frontiers  against  external  foes,  could 
neighbours  have  robbed  us  and  weakened  us.  Much 
has  happened  to  prevent  the  return  of  such  unfortunate 
quarrels  in    Germany  for    the    future.     The   German 


220  The  Western  Boundary. 

peoples  no  longer  cherish  that  former  unreasonable 
jealousy  towards  one  another,  or  by  no  means  to  such 
a  degree  as  formerly.  The  dynasties  also  are  more 
closely  connected,  and  they  find  their  interest  is  much 
better  protected  in  a  policy  of  agreement  than  formerly 
in  one  of  separation.  Only  the  strife  over  opinions 
and  convictions,  over  constitutional  and  religious 
questions,  is  still  rife  and  has  not  yet  reached  a  satis- 
factory solution.  But  has  too  much  been  asked  of  a 
nation  so  great,  so  ancient,  so  experienced,  and 
thoroughly  educated  as  the  German,  if  one  begs  of  it 
not  to  hostilize  itself  within  itself  so  long  as  so  many 
foes  threaten  it  from  without  ?  Whatever  be  the  object 
about  which  we  hostilize  ourselves,  the  result  will 
always  be  that  each  of  our  inner  quarrels  will 
be  used  from  the  outside  for  our  ruin.  We  must  ever 
regard  ourselves,  even  in  the  midst  of  peace,  as  a  great 
army  in  camp  and  in  sight  of  a  powerful  foe.  In  such 
a  condition  it  does  not  become  us  to  take  our  stand 
hostilely  against  one  another,  however  natural  and 
right  may  apparently  be  the  occasion  for  it.  We 
must  always  stand  with  our  face  towards  the  enemy 
without. 


RAILWAY    ROUTES. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  year  1843  the  following  essay  was  published  in  the  Keview, 
"Deutsche  Vierteljahrsschrift,  under  the  title  :  "  Welche  Kucksichten 
kommen  bei  der  Wahl  der  Eichtung  von  Eisenbahnen  in  Betracht  1 " 
and  signed  with  an  M.  "We  have  reason  to  doubt  that  the  publica- 
tion of  the  essay,  at  that  time,  met  with  the  appreciation  which  it 
deserved,  in  consequence  of  the  uncertain  opinion  then  prevailing  as 
to  the  value  and  great  importance  of  railways  as  well  as  to  their 
future  development. 

In  a  letter  announcing  the  reception  of  the  essay,  the  Cotta  com- 
pany showed  their  appreciation  of  its  importance  and  acknowledged 
the  same  to  the  author  as  follows  : 

<f  At  all  events  permit  us  to  send  you  in  addition,  as  a  small  proof 
of  the  value  which  we  place  upon  your  contribution  to  our  journals, 
a  contribution  to  your  library,  which  we  pray  you  kindly  to 
receive. 

"  Schiller's  and  Goethe's  "Works,  with  steel-engravings  and 
wood-cuts,  also  Schiller's,  Goethe's  and  Freiligrath's  Poems  en 
miniature.'" 

We  are  forced  to  admire  the  quick  insight  with  which  Von 
Moltke,  then  major  on  the  general's  staff,  recognized  the  great 
importance  of  railways,  their  value  to  the  state,  and  their  significance 
in  respect  to  public  economy,  at  a  time  when  the  governments  of 
nearly  all  the  states  did  not  regard  it  advantageous  for  them 
to  construct  railways  with  state  funds,  and  to  assume  their  manage- 
ment. Excepting  a  few  intelligent  and  broader-minded  men,  public 
opinion  was  still  little  disposed  towards  railways.  In  this  connec- 
tion, we  only  need  to  recall  the  difficulties  which  the  great  national 
economist,  F.  List,  had  to  overcome  hefore  he  succeeded  in  calling 
the  Magdeburg-Leipzig  railway  into  existence.1 

Together  with  the  keen  penetration  which  is  noticeable  in  his 
criticism  of  the  value  and  importance  of  railways,  technical  knowledge 

1  "Leipzig-Dresden  Railway,  a  work  of  Frederiok  List,"  by  Dr.  Nieder- 
muller:  Leipzig,  1880 — Archiv  fur  Eisenbahnivesen.  Annual  series  of  1880, 
number  5.  Beginning  of  the  construction,  spring,  1838.  Operation  of  the 
whole  line  for  passenger  trips,  18th  August,  1840,  and  for  regularly  run- 
ning goodB  trains  1st  November,  1840. 


224  Railway  Routes. 

and  practical  understanding  are  prominent,  which  go  to  show  that 
the  author  is  well  instructed  in  a  subject  far  removed  from  his  own 
particular  profession,  information  which  discloses  a  perfectly  accurate 
and  technical  study  of  the  experience,  derived  from  the  construction 
and  management  of  railways  in  other  countries,  especially  in  England, 
the  cradle  of  railways.  The  exact  description  of  the  locomotive,  its 
operation  and  efficiency,  deserve  special  attention ;  a  savant  could 
not  have  given  it  more  correctly.  Furthermore,  in  this  essay,. are 
evolved  the  principles  then  followed  in  building  and  managing  rail- 
ways, which  could  give  instruction  to  many  a  technologist ;  there  is 
added,  moreover,  statistical  material,  relating  to  lines  already  built,  so 
that  one  is  justified  in  making  the  title  read  :  Upon  the  building,  and 
managing  of  railways." 

The  treatise  contains  an  abundance  of  timely  utterances,  the  truth 
of  which  was  recognized  only  by  a  few  at  the  time  of  their  first 
publication,  it  also  contains  many  important  and  sharp-sighted  infer- 
ences. 

Moreover  it,  like  everything  written  by  the  Field-marshal,  is 
briefly  and  decisively  expressed,  wholly  comprehensible,  and  scien- 
tifically discussed.  We  must  not  omit  calling  attention  to  only  the 
following  words,  which  give  a  thoroughly  correct  judgment,  as 
regards  the  future  developments  of  railway  traffic. 

"  Passengers  are  the  most  valuable  goods,  those  for  which  the 
highest  rates  may  be  demanded,  and  on  this  account  nearly  all 
railways  have  been  hitherto  calculated  for  passenger  traffic  ;  the 
goods  traffic,  however,  has  been  treated  as  a  secondary  matter. 
And  yet  the  time  is  not  far  distant,  when  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  transport  of  goods  is  the  very  basis  of  all  railway  operation, 
which  will  make  the  investment  profitable,  and  that  the  actual 
national-economic  use  of  the  railways  is  to  be  sought  in  it." 

And  again  it  reads  : 

"  People  require  numerous  considerations  in  travelling,  but  goods 
require  only  punctual  and  safe  transport." 

These  remarks,  made  almost  fifty  years  ago,  have  all  come  true ! 
"What  demands  are  now  made  of  the  railway  companies  by  people, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  carried  rapidly,  comfortably,  provided  with 
ventilation,  not  too  warm  and  not  too  cold,  and  yet  cheaply.  What 
enormous  dimensions  the  transport  of  goods  by  railway  has  at- 
tained, and  how  appropriate  was  the  remark,  that  the  transport  of 
goods  would  make  the  roads  profitable.  It  cannot  be  exactly 
estimated,  how  great  are  the  costs  which  fall  exclusively  to  the 
share  of  passengers,  and  which  to  goods  alone,  yet  it  is  undis- 
puted that  the  chief  earnings  of  the  railways  are  to  be  credited  to 
the  transport  of  goods ;  indeed,  in  some  parts  it  is  maintained  that 
passenger  traffic  not  only  earns  nothing  in  consequence  of  the  great 
demands  made  for  the  accommodation  and  carrying  of  passengers,  but 
rather  requires  an  extra  outlay. 


Railway  Routes.  225 

Major  von  Moltke,  as  can  only  be  expected,  also  manifests  his 
own  great  interest  in  the  new  mode  of  communication  by  personal  co- 
operation in  the  building  of  railways.  From  a  letter  to  his  brother 
Ludwig,  dated  April  13th,  1844,  it  is  learned  that  he  belonged  at 
that  time  to  the  managing  board  of  the  Berlin-Hamburg  Railway,1 
and  from  other  sources  we  know  that  he  took  an  important  part  in 
its  construction. 

The  passage  in  the  letter  referred  to  reads :  "'  While  France 
is  still  deliberating  in  the  Houses,  we  have  constructed  three  hundred 
miles  of  railway,  and  are  at  work  on  over  two  hundred  miles. 
Among  these  latter  is  the  Hamburg- Berlin  line,  to  whose  board  of 
administration  I  belong.  The  greatest  difficulty  remaining  for  us  to 
overcome  is  the  Royal  Danish  Government,  which  wishes  to  compel 
us  to  keep  the  route  along  the  Elbe  through  Lauenburg,  which  costs 
us  two  million  thalers  more  than  that  by  the  way  of  Schwarzenbeck, 
as  we  chose.  There  is  talk  of  sending  a  deputation  to  Copenhagen, 
in  which  I  am  to  take  part,  yet  perhaps  the  matter  can  be  settled 
by  diplomacy.  Meanwhile  we  have  begun  to  build,  and  intend  to 
have  it  finished  in  1846." 

May  13th,  1844,  he  writes  to  his  brother  Adolf  in  regard  to  this 
matter  : — 

"  The  bearer  of  this  letter  is  the  director  of  the  Berlin-Hamburg 
Railway,  Herr  Costenoble  ; 2  his  companion,  Herr  Neuhaus,  one  of  the 
counsellors  of  construction,3  is  chief-engineer ;  and  also  Dr.  Abendroth, 
from  Hamburg,  who  is  chairman  of  the  committee  of  this  com- 
pany. You  will  find  all  three  educated,  able,  and  also  pleasant 
gentlemen.  They  make  this  journey  because  of  the  difficulties 
which  the  Danish  Government  oppose  to  our  undertaking.  Their 
object  is  to  make  some  acquaintances  in  Copenhagen,  and  although  I 
have  said  to  them  that  you  are  engaged  in  an  altogether  different 
business,  yet  they  wish  to  make  your  acquaintance,  and  hope  that 
you  will  enlighten  them  in  regard  to  personal  matters." 

At  the  close  of  the  essay  we  note  that  the  author  even  then  saw 
what  advantages  there  were  for  the  State  in  the  proper  and  judicious 
building  of  railways,  in  a  planned  network  of  Government  roads,  and 
in  respect  to  military  interests.  We  cannot  but  be  amazed  with 
the  penetration — one  might  say,  with  the  prophetic  foresight  with 
which  Moltke  so  early  recognized  the  great  value  of  railways  to  his 
own  department,  his  own  profession.  This  knowledge  afterwards 
brought  him  into  a  position,  one  that  had  been  entrusted  to  him  for 
the  safety  of  Germany,  to  use  the  railways  for  military  purposes,  and 

1  In  this  capacity  Major  von  Moltke  was  frequently  associated  with 
Moritz  Robert-Tornow,  Privy  Counsellor  to  the  Board  of  Trade. 

2  He  was  afterwards  president  of  the  Royal  Railway  Board  of  the  Lower 
Silesian-Marcian  Railway  in  Berlin. 

8  He  was  builder  of  the  Berlin-Hamburg  Railway,  and  for  many  years 
he  was  president  of  its  Board  of  Managers. 

VOL.    I.  Q 


226  Railway  Routes. 

to  do  it  properly.  If  this  was  evident  already  in  1866,  we  see  it 
applied  in  a  much  more  perfect  and  better-planned  manner  at  the 
mobilization  of  the  army  in  1870,  and  in  the  war  at  that  time,  when 
the  first  victorious  battles  were  made  possible  by  the  speedy 
mobilization  of  the  troops.  This  same  knowledge,  in  union  with 
past  experiences,  also  assisted  him  to  employ  this  mode  of  communi- 
cation in  the  military  system,  and  to  use  it  more  extensively  for 
military  matters  by  taking  routes  which  were  well  known  on  all 
sides  to  be  important  and  necessary. 

Thus  by  the  supreme  order  of  the  Cabinet  of  January  31st,  1867, 
a  Railway  Department  in  the  grand  staff  of  the  general  was  created  ; 
its  head  received  his  appointment  as  independent  chief  of  the  Rail- 
way Department 1  by  the  supreme  order  of  the  Cabinet,  May  8th, 
1871. 

About  the  same  time,  a  railway  battalion  for  military  purposes  was 
formed  by  supreme  Cabinet  order  of  May  19th,  1871,  which  was 
increased  December  30th,  1875,  to  a  railway  regiment,  and  on 
February  20th,  1890,  to  a  railway  brigade,  which  arrangements  were 
at  once  recognized  by  other  States,  and  were  adopted  by  them. 

Thus  we  can  imagine  what  satisfaction  the  Field-Marshal  must 
have  felt  upon  finding  the  means  of  communication  by  railway, 
which  he  had  welcomed  at  first  with  expressions  of  confidence, 
soaring  to  a  height  beyond  his  expectations,  and  upon  being  per- 
mitted to  follow  their  development  for  half  a  century  till  the  un- 
foreseen results  of  the  present  were  attained. 

W.  Streckert. 

1  Major  von  Brandenstein,  afterwards  chief  of  the  engineer  and  pioneer 
corps,  and  general  inspector  of  the  fortifications. 


CONSIDERATIONS   IN    THE    CHOICE 


OF 


RAILWAY   ROUTES. 


Many  wise  men  believe  that  the  railways,  which  so 
universally  attract  attention  to-day,  are  a  symptom 
of  the  sickly  unrest  and  nervous  impatience  of  our 
times,  which  are  not  able  to  do  anything  fast  enough. 
Others  regard  them  as  a  necessary  evil,  unavoidable 
as  was  the  introduction  of  the  spinning-machine  among 
us,  after  that  our  neighbour  had  introduced  it.  The 
more  general  belief  is,  however,  that  these  new  means 
of  communication,  for  which  such  great  sacrifices  have 
been  made,  and  still  greater  will  be,  will  somewhat 
satisfy  the  actually  existing  desire  for  the  union  of 
things  intellectual  and  material. 

He  who  recalls  the  condition  of  all  kinds  of  communi- 
cation in  his  youth  might  well  believe  that  the  age  of 
Methuselah  has  now  been  reached  by  him,  when  he 
views  the  present  condition  of  the  same.  And  yet  it 
was  only  thirty  years  ago  when  we  ourselves  were 
swallowed  up  in  the  bottomless  sand  or  deep  clay  roads 
before  the  gates  of  the  principal  cities.  A  trip  from 
Berlin  to  Potsdam  required  the  preparation  of  a 
journey.  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  was  two  days'  distant 
from  Berlin.  One  took  leave  of  his  friends  and 
equipped  himself  for  all  the  inconveniences  of  bad 
storms,  poor  night-lodgings  and  over-timed  carriages. 

Q  2 


228  Railway  Routes. 

Droves  of  horses  panted  with  their  burdens  over  steep 
mountains  and  through  deep  valleys,  over  dangerous 
stone  piers,  with  most  lucky  mishaps,  and  every- 
where paviage,  bridge-tax,  and  passage-money  were 
levied.  The  highways  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  almost 
unchanged  until  our  time,  except  that  the  robber- 
knights  were  supplanted  by  the  legitimate  way-laying 
of  the  toll-gates. 

After  the  long,  bloody  battles  inherited  by  our 
century  from  the  preceding  one,  had  ended,  a  complete 
revolution  of  the  avenues  of  communication  took  place. 
Since  the  Treaty  of  Paris  the  energy  of  nations  has 
passed  from  destruction  to  creation  in  every  respect, 
and  more  has  been  done  for  ways  of  communication 
in  the  past  thirty  years  than  in  the  three  centuries 
preceding.  A  net  of  highways  between  all  more 
important  points  has  been  made,  and  in  Germany 
alone  the  total  mileage  of  artificial  roads  constructed 
during  this  period  amounts  to  one-half  of  the  earth's 
circumference.  Yet  the  paved  roads  alone  were  not 
sufficient  for  the  industry  which  had  sprung  up, 
and  continued  to  develop  more  strongly,  and  the 
invention  of  the  locomotive  and  railroads  now  first 
made  it  possible  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  new  state 
of  affairs. 

Although  this  invention  of  our  days  greatly  busies 
the  minds  of  men,  yet  it  may  be  affirmed  that  a  know- 
ledge of  the  properties  of  the  same  is  by  no  means 
generally  spread  abroad.  Not  that  there  is  need  of 
excellent  works  upon  this  subject ;  they  are,  however, 
for  the  most  part  comprehensible  to  the  technologist 
alone,  just  as  generally  popular  interpretations 1  follow 
after  science  has  made  the  way.  Therefore,  before 
we  discuss  the  particular  object  of  our  investigation, 
it  will  not  be  amiss  to  collect  a  few  technical  details, 

1  So  far  as  we  know,  there  existed,  in  1842,  neither  a  popular 
treatise  upon  railways  nor  a  technical  work  upon  their  construction 
and  management. — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  229 

so  that  they  will  be  comprehensible  and  clear  to  the 
layman. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  railway  is  a  way  with 
tracks  of  strong  cast-iron  rails,1  which,  with  the 
slightest  possible  deviation  from  the  straight  line 
(horizontally  and  vertically),  that  is,  by  the  shortest 
route,  and  with  as  little  ascent  and  descent  as  possible, 
are  laid  between  the  points  to  be  joined.  To  answer 
these  conditions,  the  railway  will  sometimes  be  cut 
through  elevations  as  a  narrow  pass,  sometimes  pierce 
them  as  a  tunnel ;  at  times  it  must  stride  over  the 
valleys  as  a  pier,  bridge,  or  viaduct,  but  often  it  has 
to  pass  around  in  gentle  curves,  when  such  surface  diffi- 
culties cannot  be  overcome. 

After  that  the  plan  or  surface  of  the  way  has  been 
laid  out  so  that  it  corresponds  as  much  as  possible 
to  the  conditions  just  mentioned,  the  rails,  which  must 
be  exactly  parallel  to  each  other,  are  carefully  fastened 
on  stone  supports,2  oftener  on  heavy  wooden  beams,  by 
means  of  cast-iron  supporters,3  or  now  mostly  with 
headed  spikes.4  The  usual  form  of  the  rail  resembles 
in  a  cross-section  the  figure  of  a  T,  over  whose  upper 
surface  the  wheels  run.  Its  weight  amounts  to  14,  20, 
even   24   pounds    for   the   running   foot ;    its   length 


1  Cast-iron  rails,  three  feet  or  more  long,  were  laid  as  longi- 
tudinal sleepers  in  the  surface  construction  of  the  first  English 
railways,  and  afterwards  in  the  construction  of  horizontal  sleepers 
until  the  middle  of  the  year  1840.  The  first  wrought-iron  rails, 
fifteen  feet  long,  and  in  the  present  usual  form,  were  rolled  in  the 
year  1828,  at  a  foundry  near  Durham. — Str. 

2  The  stone  cubes  or  single  supports  of  the  rails,  which  were  mostly 
used  at  first,  are  still  to  be  found  on  over  500  km.  of  main  and  side 
tracks  of  the  German  railways ;  over  300  km.  of  them  are  on  the 
Bavarian  lines,  most  of  the  rest  on  the  Prussian. — Str. 

3  The  kind  of  rail-supports  that  have  come  to  be  generally  used  on 
English  lines  has  been  laid  for  about  800  km.  on  the  German  lines, 
and  that,  too,  mostly  in  the  Magdeburg  division. — Str. 

4  At  present  wooden  sleepers  are  most  generally  used  to  fasten 
rails  on. — Str. 


230  Railway  Routes. 

averages  15  feet.1  As  it  is  well  known  that  the  metal 
expands  with  altogether  irresistible  force  at  every  in- 
crease of  temperature,  it  is  necessary  to  leave  a  short 
space  of  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch 2  between  every 
two  rails. 

Because,  as  was  just  said,  the  iron  track  is  not  sunk 
in  an  indenture,  as  is  the  ordinary  road,  but  is 
elevated,  it  is  necessary  for  the  wheels  of  the  carriage, 
which  are  to  move  over  the  same,  to  be  provided  with 
a  small  edge  or  tram  on  the  inner  surface,  so  that  they 
cannot  run  off  this  rail. 

One  other  peculiarity  of  these  iron  wheels  is  that  they 
do  not  revolve  on  their  axles,  as  is  the  case  with 
wagons,  but,  since  it  is  necessary  to  keep  their  gauge 
very  exact,  they  sit  fast  upon  the  axles,  and  revolve 
simultaneously  with  them  in  the  pedestals  which  are 
fastened  under  the  carriages.3 

In  order  to  make  as  much  room  as  possible,  the 
carriage-top  is  made  much  wider  than  the  track-way. 
For  this  purpose  the  box  is  placed  over  the  wheels,  not, 
as  usually,  between  them,  and  therefore,  to  avoid  the 
danger  of  upsetting,  the  wheels  have  to  be  built  much 
lower  than  on  ordinary  vehicles,  although  large  wheels 
would  be  a  great  advantage  for  railways  also.  They 
have  tried  to  gain  this  advantage,  on  a  new  English 
railway,  by  increasing  the  width  between  the  rails.4 
The  wheels  could  then  be  built  higher  without  risk, 
and,  of  course,  a  much  greater  speed  was  attained  ; 

1  At  present  the  rails  used  on  the  main  railways  in  Germany- 
measure  up  to  12  metres  in  length,  and  weigh  up  to  52  kg.  per 
metre. — Ste. 

2  The  space  is  determined  by  the  length  of  each  rail,  and  the 
greatest  variation  in  temperature. — Str. 

3  The  chief  difference  in  the  movement  of  railway  carriages  and 
ordinary  road  carriages. — Str. 

4  The  width  on  several  English  lines,  for  example,  the  Great 
Western,  is  2-135  metres  (7  English  feet),  while  on  the  Continent 
(with  the  exception  of  Russia  and  Spain)  the  normal  width  of  T435 
metres  has  been  almost  generally  employed. — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  231 

but  other  technical  difficulties,  not  in  order  of  discus- 
sion here,  were  met  with,  which  caused  the  Continental 
roads  to  keep  their  usual  width  of  track. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  carriage  on  a  railway  will  be 
moved  far  more  easily  than  on  an  ordinary  roadway. 
The  load  which  is  drawn  on  a  railway  by  one  horse  at 
the  rapidity  of  two-thirds  of  a  mile  per  hour,  requires 
for  the  same  speed  on  a  granite  track,  like  that  of  the 
"  Commercial  Road "  in  London,  or  those  in  Upper 
Italian  cities,  4  horses  ;  on  a  highway,  from  8  to  1 6  ;  on 
ordinary  country  roads,  33  to  66. 

A  whole  row  of  heavily  laden  carriages  are  joined, 
therefore,  on  the  railway,  and  in  front  of  this  train  is 
attached  one  black  magic  horse,  snorting  out  steam 
and  belching  out  fire,  called  the  locomotive,  the 
nature  of  which  we  shall  examine  somewhat  more 
closely.  Certainly  it  is  not  our  intention  to  give  in 
detail  the  description  of  a  machine  so  complicated  as 
that  of  a  locomotive,  that  triumph  of  human  invention, 
but  the  essentials  and  generalities  may  be  touched  upon 
in  this  essay. 

Between  the  wheels  and  upon  springs  there  is  placed 
a  wrater-tank  of  wrought  iron,  firmly  constructed ;  it 
is  called  the  boiler,  almost  like  the  form  of  a  reclining 
cylinder,  and  takes  up  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the 
carriage.  At  its  rear,  and  almost  surrounded  by 
water,  is  the  fire-box,  in  which  a  great  fire  is  kept,  from 
which  the  heat  is  conducted  by  means  of  a  system  of 
brass  tubes,  forty  or  fifty  in  number,  in  order  to  make 
the  greatest  possible  surface  of  contact,  through  the 
water  to  a  chimney  standing  on  the  fore  end  of  the 
locomotive.  After  that  the  water  which  has  been 
pumped  into  the  boiler  to  a  certain  height,  and  has 
been  brought  to  the  boiling  point,  steam  is  generated 
upon  whose  elasticity  depends  the  operation  of  all 
steam-engines.  Steam's  expansiveness  increases  with 
the  height  of  the  temperature  by  which  it  is  gene- 
rated, and  the  steam  enclosed  within  the  walls  of  the 


232  Railway  Routes. 

boiler  will,  if  it  continues  to  expand,  finally  burst 
the  boiler  though  it  be  very  firmly  made,  unless  an 
opening  has  been  provided  for  it  as  soon  as  its  expan- 
sion reaches  a  certain  degree.  Now  this  is  done  in  case 
of  the  locomotive  either  by  means  of  the  cylinder, 
when  the  machine  is  in  operation,  or  by  the  safety- 
valve,  when  it  is  at  rest. 

Steam  is  said  to  have  an  expansive  power  of  40,  50, 
60  lbs.,  in  case  the  force  with  which  it  presses  upon 
the  sides  of  the  boiler  from  within  is  equal  to  40,  50, 
60  lbs.  weight  on  every  square  inch  of  the  boiler's 
surface.  If  one  imagines,  for  example,  that  a  piece 
on  the  top  of  the  boiler  one  foot  square  is  loose,  then 
with  60  lbs.  of  expansion  the  pressure  on  it  must  be 
8640  lbs.  to  prevent  it  from  being  blown  into  the  air 
by  the  steam.  If  now  the  joined  plates  of  which  a 
steam-boiler  is  constructed  endure  only  60  lbs.  pressure 
and  actually  no  more,  it  is  easily  seen  that  a  pressure 
exceeding  this  maximum  limit  would  necessarily  burst 
the  boiler  with  a  fearful  explosion,  for  the  steam  con- 
fined in  it  would  form  under  ordinary  pressure  a 
volume  more  than  four  hundred  times  as  great.  There, 
are,  of  course,  openings  in  the  steam-boiler  to  prevent 
this,  and  their  covers  are  pressed  down  by  a  weight 
equivalent  to  60  lbs.  to  the  square  inch,  or,  what  is  the 
same,  they  are  held  down  by  a  spring  proportionally 
strong.  These  are  the  safety-valves.  As  soon  as  the 
pressure  within  the  boiler  exceeds  that  resting  on  the 
valve,  the  latter  is  opened  and  we  see  a  white  cloud 
rush  upwards  which  we  usually  call  steam,  though  it  is 
steam  already  compressed  to  water,  for  steam  is  in- 
visible like  the  atmosphere  itself.  The  force  with  which 
this  surplus  of  strength  escapes  and  which  would  suffice 
to  gain  the  prize  for  the  electro-magnetic  machine, 
now  gives  us  an  idea  of  the  efficiency  of  the  locomotive. 
As  soon  as  enough  steam  has  escaped  through  the 
safety-valve  to  reduce  the  pressure  to  not  more  than 
60  lbs.,  the  valve  sinks  of  itself  and  closes  the  boiler. 


Railway  Routes.  233 

The  cylinders  in  front  on  either  side  of  the  boiler 
form  another  way  of  escape  for  the  steam.  In  the 
cylinder  is  a  piston  or  ram  which  can  be  driven  for- 
wards or  backwards.  When,  by  means  of  a  regulator, 
the  steam  is  allowed  to  enter  the  front  end  of  the 
cylinder  by  a  certain  passage,  it  drives  the  piston  back 
with  great  force.  But  before  the  piston  reaches  the 
end  of  the  cylinder  the  passage  through  which  the 
steam  entered  is  closed  by  means  of  a  simple  and  in- 
genious arrangement,  and  an  escape  for  the  same  is 
opened  leading  to  the  smoke-stack  by  which  it  passes 
out  at  once.  Simultaneously  an  opening  in  the  rear 
end  of  the  cylinder  is  unclosed  through  which  the 
steam  from  the  boiler  now  slowly  passes  into  the 
cylinder,  but  enters  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  piston 
and  drives  it  forwards  until  again  the  escape  to  the 
smoke-stack  opens  and  the  steam  again  presses  into 
the  forward  end.  The  piston  is  thus  continuously  and 
rapidly  driven  forwards  and  backwards. 

The  entire  apparatus  of  the  steam-carnage  rests  on 
four,  six,  or  eight  wheels,  and  of  these  the  driving- 
wheels  must  be  distinguished  from  the  guiding- wheels.1 
The  latter  are  smaller  and  serve  only  to  bear  the 
weight  of  the  machine ;  the  former,  far  greater  in 
diameter,  are  intended  to  drive  it  forward.  The 
pistons  in  the  cylinders,  of  which  we  have  just  spoken, 
are  joined  by  connecting-rods  to  the  driving-wheels, 
so  that  each  movement,  once  forwards  and  once  back- 
wards, of  the  former  result  in  a  complete  revolution 
of  the  latter. 

Friction  is  produced  whenever  two  bodies  in  imme- 
diate contact  move  over  each  other.  It  is  this  that 
obstructs  motion  in  all  machines,  first  lessening  it  and 
finally  stopping  it   altogether.     Yet  the  use  of  loco- 

1  The  locomotive  built  by  George  Stephenson  which  received  the 
prize  given  for  the  best  and  most  rapid  machine  on  the  Stockton- 
Darlington  Railway,  near  Rainhill,  on  October  6,  1829,  had  four 
wheels. — Str. 


234  Railway  Routes. 

motives  for  moving  loads  depends  on  this  very  same 
friction.  The  elasticity  of  the  steam  generated  in  the 
boiler  drives  the  piston  backwards  and  forwards  in 
the  cylinders,  as  we  have  seen,  and  this  motion  is  next 
imparted  to  the  driving-wheels,  which  thus  receive  the 
power  to  revolve.  Because  they  find  resistance,  gene- 
rally called  adhesion,  on  the  iron  rails  on  which  they 
rest,  and  this  prevents  them  from  revolving  unob- 
structed on  their  axles,  they  drive  this  axle  forwards, 
that  is,  they  roll  forwards  and  draw  the  load  attached 
along  with  them. 

When  locomotives  were  first  placed  on  iron  rails  the 
flanges  or  fellies  of  the  wheels  were  provided  with 
teeth  which  were  made  to  fit  into  corresponding  inden- 
tures in  the  rails.1  This  was  accompanied  with  great 
inconveniences,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  it  was  be- 
lieved that  there  was  a  great  amount  of  friction  between 
turning  wheels  and  rails  almost  smooth,  and  that  thou- 
sands of  hundredweights  could  be  moved  by  means  of 
this  useful  friction,  and  that  too  up  very  steep  grades. 

The  obstructive  friction,  on  the  other  hand,  is  that 
which  is  found  in  cases  of  all  wheels  between  the  axles 
and  the  wheel-caps,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  between  the 
fellies  and  the  rails,  finally,  between  the  inner  parts  of 
the  machine  itself.  This  resistance  increases  propor- 
tionally to  the  weight  which  rests  upon  the  axles. 

If  the  total  resistances  exceed  the  greatness  of  ad- 
hesion the  locomotive  and  carriages  stop,  and  the 
driving-wheels,  grinding  on  the  rails  with  a  great 
amount  of  resistance,  turn  on  their  own  axles. 

Many    experiments    have    shown    that    the    force 

1  In  1804  coal-trains  were  run  by  machines  on  the  ascents  of  the 
Merthyr-Tydvil  line  in  South  Wales,  by  R.  Trevethick,  into  the 
wheels  of  which  were  driven  nails,  outside  of  the  running  surface  of 
the  rails,  and  the  heads  of  these  nails  caught  into  the  wooden  longi- 
tudinal sleepers.  In  1812,  on  the  Middleton  coal-line,  a  train  was 
moved  by  a  locomotive  built  by  Blenkinsop,  by  means  of  a  rack  lying 
along  the  line  and  by  cog-wheels. — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  235 

necessary  to  overcome  the  resistance,  and  to  set  in 
motion  a  wheeled  vehicle  on  a  hard  and  level  surface, 
is  about  equal  to  one  three-hundredths  of  the  weight x 
of  the  object  to  be  moved  ;  in  other  words,  a  hundred- 
weight on  a  cord  passing  over  a  roller  would  move  a 
wagon  of  about  300  cwt.  (not  counting,  of  course,  the 
stiffness  of  the  cord  and  the  friction  of  the  roller). 

But  as  soon  as  the  road  ascends,  and  consequently 
the  load  to  be  moved  is  said  to  be  increased,  the  power 
necessary  to  overcome  the  resistance  must  be  still  in- 
creased by  new  power.  This  is  constant  throughout, 
nor  can  any  part  of  it  be  removed ;  it  is  the  same 
for  the  worst  field-way  and  for  the  smoothest  rail- 
way, the  same  for  a  steep  and  for  a  gentle  ascent.2 
If  the  road  has  to  be  conducted,  for  example,  over  a  hill 
twenty  feet  high,  the  power  required  to  draw  the  load 
up  the  said  hill  would  be  quite  the  same  whether  it 
be  necessary  to  ascend  a  grade  of  3^0  or  1(f00,  with 
the  only  difference  that  in  this  case  unequal  amounts 
of  power  are  employed  for  equal  amounts  of  time,  and, 
of  course,  in  the  given  case  these  amounts  of  power 
would  be  proportional  to  each  amount  of  time  as  300 
is  to  1000.  The  sum  total  of  all  the  amounts  remains, 
however,  the  same,  and  is  equivalent  to  the  weight  of 
the  entire  load  to  be  moved. 

Let  us  imagine  a  stretch  of  railway  with  a  3~0 
ascending  grade,  up  which  a  load  of  300  cwt.  is  to  be 
carried  ;  we  need  first  1  cwt.  to  overcome  the  fric- 
tion, next  3J0  of  the  load,  or  a  second  1  cwt.,  to  move 
the    load,  a    total   of  2  cwt.,    or    twice    the    amount 


1  Wood  estimates  T±T)  Macneil  -^T,  Pambour  -^o  to  -§-£o,  and 
under  favourable  circumstances  still  less. 

2  The  gradient  of  the  railway  is  usually  designated  by  a  fraction, 
whose  numerator  tells  the  height,  and  the  denominator  the  length  of 
the  inclined  plain.  If  a  road  300  feet  long  ascends  about  one  foot 
it  is  said  to  have  an  inclination  of  1*300  or  ^^.  Should  it  ascend 
or  descend  about  one  perch  for  1000  perches,  the  gradient  is  desig- 
nated 1-1000  or  y^Vo- 


236  Railway  Routes. 

necessary  to  move  it  on  a  horizontal  plane.  Again,  for 
the  ascent  of  a  grade  of  1*150  there  is  need  of  1  cwt. 
of  power  to  overcome  the  friction,  but  for  the  moving 
of  the  load  are  needed  yf  §  =  2  cwt.,  hence  a  total  of 
3  cwt.,  or  three  times  the  amount  necessary  to  move  it 
on  a  horizontal  surface  ;  with  a  grade  of  1*100,  four 
times  the  amount,  and  with  grades  of  g3^  and  g-7  four 
and  one-half  and  nine  times  the  power  are  required. 
Yet  grades  of  the  last  kind  are  found  on  English  lines 
and  are  traversed  by  locomotives.  If  a  locomotive 
drawing  the  greatest  possible  load  with  its  greatest 
speed  on  a  horizontal  line  and  with  its  greatest  gener- 
ation of  steam  reaches  the  slightest  grade,  although  it 
sloped  only  at  the  rate  of  1(f0o>  and  if  it  is  desired  to 
travel  further  with  the  same  speed  and  load,  there  is 
nothing  to  do  but  to  attach  a  second  (assistant)  loco- 
motive. 

If  time  or  power  is  lost  by  the  ascension  of  steep 
surfaces,  the  same,  on  the  other  hand,  is  regained  to 
a  certain  degree  by  the  descent  of  the  same  grade. 
The  weight  of  the  load  also  increases  the  speed  of  the 
same,  as  it  overcomes  the  resistance  of  the  friction. 
On  a  grade  of  1*224  up  to  1*300  the  weight  of  the  load 
is  equal  to  the  friction.  The  carnages,  therefore,  will 
slowly  roll  down  of  themselves.1  If  the  incline  is 
more  gradual,  gravitation  in  union  with  steam  power 
assists  in  increasing  the  speed  none  the  less  ;  but  only 
when  the  grade  is  considerably  greater  than  3^0  does 
this  cease  to  be  a  favourable  circumstance,  because  one 
cannot  travel  with  less  than  zero  steam  power,  and  be- 
cause, in  order  to  avoid  a  too  rapid  and  dangerous 
descent,  the  wheels  must  be  locked,  which  is  harmful 
to  both  rails  and  carriage. 

It  is  obvious  that,  in  the  descent  of  a  steep  and 
smooth  surface,  which  inclines  at  the  rate  of  1*300,  a 

1  Since  gradual  declines  are  not  dangerous  for  the  descent  of  car- 
riages, it  is  permissible  to  locate  stations  also  on  descending  grades 
of  1-400.— Str. 


Railway  Routes.  237 

dangerous  velocity  must  necessarily  be  acquired  at 
last,  provided  the  incline  is  very  long.  For,  according 
to  the  universal  law  of  gravitation,  the  motion,  though 
primarily  slow,  increases  in  velocity  at  every  new 
division  of  time,  and  so  on  to  infinity.  But  another 
obstacle  simultaneously  opposes  this  velocity,  and  the 
experiments  recently  made  on  the  Liverpool-Manchester 
line  and  on  the  Grand  Junction  line  have  furnished 
data  quite  as  important  as  they  are  astonishing.  A 
long  distance  was  taken,  extending  horizontally  fully 
half  a  German  mile,  so  that  a  train  of  eight  or  twelve 
heavily-loaded  goods-vans  could  be  moved  on  it  with 
great  velocity  to  the  edge  of  a  steep  descent,  which 
inclined  at  the  rate  of  ^  for  a  third  of  a  German  mile. 
The  wagons  were  allowed  to  descend  this  incline  unob- 
structed.  They  stationed  several  men  every  fifty  perches 
along  this  declivity,  who  observed  the  exact  moment  by 
watches  indicating  the  seconds,  when  the  train  passed 
by  them.  They  thus  ascertained  the  time  which  the 
wagons  had  to  take  in  running  through  each  of  the 
equidistant  spaces.  From  a  series  of  fourteen  obser- 
vations it  was  shown  that,  during  the  first  seconds  of 
time  the  load  acquired  an  increasing  velocity,  but  that 
this  soon  became  invariably  constant.  Under  the  stated 
conditions,  the  speed  amounted  to  5f  up  to  8J  German 
miles  per  hour.  Since  the  resistance  of  the  load  only, 
not  of  the  speed,  is  determined,  the  resistance  of  the 
air  must  in  this  case  be  the  element  to  arrest  greater 
velocity.  This  resistance  of  the  air  is  proportioned,  not 
only  according  to  the  front  surface  of  the  moving  object, 
but  also  according  to  the  upper  surface  Avhich,  by  its 
movement,  comes  in  contact  with  the  air,  and  its  resist- 
ance increases  according  to  the  square  of  its  speed  ;  that 
is,  if  a  wagon  travels  at  2,  3,  4,  5  times  greater  velo- 
city, the  resistance  will  be  4,  9,  16,  25  times  greater. 
It  increases,  therefore,  by  rapid  progression,  and  the 
velocity  produced  by  the  descent  is  arrested  as  soon  as 
a  certain  degree  of  velocity  is  reached. 


238  Railway  Routes. 

Those  who  are  less  acquainted  with  these  proportions 
may  imagine  that  the  descent  of  1*300  is  a  precipitous 
declivity,  and,  therefore,  it  is  not  superfluous  to  make 
the  observation  that,  with  a  3^0  ascent  to  every  perch, 
an  elevation  of  half  an  inch  is  not  attained,  and  that 
an  unpractised  eye  would  easily  be  doubtful  whether  a 
surface,  inclining  at  the  rate  of  3^-0,  ascended  or  de- 
scended on  this  side  or  that.  And  yet  this  very 
incline,  which  the  floor  of  a  room  may  have,  without 
being  noticed  by  the  occupant,  is  a  steep  declivity  for 
railway  business,  necessitating  double  the  amount  of 
power,  and  demanding  at  the  same  time  an  increase  of 
running  expenses. 

We  intend  to  illustrate  still  more  closely  the 
efficiency  of  the  locomotive  by  a  definite  example. 
Let  us  imagine  a  steam  locomotive  with  cylinders 
twelve  inches  in  diameter,  the  pistons  of  which  offer  to 
the  steam  a  surface  of  22 6f-  square  inches,  and  this 
equals  a  pressure  of  13,579  lbs.  (with  an  expansion  of 
60  lbs.  per  square  inch).  The  force  then  put  upon  the 
circumference  of  the  driving-wheels  is  in  proportion  to 
that  given  above  as  the  length  of  the  piston-stroke  to 
half  the  circumference  of  the  wheels  ;  that  is,  with  a 
16-inch  beat,  and  driving-wheels  5  feet  high,  it  bears 
the  ratio  of  about  16  : 94f.  The  force  with  which  the 
locomotive  strives  to  move  itself  and  the  load  attached 
to  it  amounts,  therefore,  to — 

1  R 

gp  x  13,579  =  2304  lbs. 

It  has  been  proved  by  experiment  that  such  a  loco- 
motive requires  110  lbs.  to  move  itself,  which,  deducted 
from  the  above  figures,  leave  2194  lbs.,  or  about  20  cwt. 
of  drawing-power  for  the  load.  Yet  a  part  of  this 
must  also  be  deducted  in  overcoming  the  internal 
friction  of  the  machine,  which  is  equally  proportional 
to  the  mass  of  the  load  attached,  and,  therefore,  cannot 
be  determined  once  for  all. 


Railway  Routes.  239 

As  has  been  stated,  the  result  of  many  accurate 
experiments  is  that  a  load  on  wheels  in  a  horizontal 
line  in  good  condition  may  be  moved  by  3J0  to  2^0, 
and  under  less  favourable  conditions  to  2^-4,  of  its  own 
weight.  Let  us  base  our  calculations  upon  the  second 
of  these  figures.  If,  then,  2y  cwt.  be  deducted  from  the 
above  20  cwt.,  for  the  overcoming  of  the  internal 
resistance  of  the  machine,  the  power  left  would  suffice 
to  move  about  17f  x  280  =  4984  cwt.  If  we  deduct 
from  this  still  the  tender  of  100  cwt.,  the  remainder 
shows  that  a  locomotive  of  the  given  construction  on  a 
horizontal  line  will  set  in  motion  the  enormous  load  of 
a  train  of  wagons  weighing  4884  cwt. 

Next  to  this  maximum  of  load  we  have  to  notice  the 
maximum  of  speed. 

The  speed  depends  upon  the  amount  of  steam  which 
the  machine  is  able  to  generate  each  time.  If,  after 
that  the  steam  reaches  an  expansion  of  60  lbs.  pressure 
to  the  square  inch,  and  the  train  has  been  put  in 
motion,  the  generation  of  steam  is  suddenly  interrupted, 
the  motion  itself  would  decrease  at  once  and  finally 
stop.  For  a  part  of  the  bulk  of  steam  escapes  at  every 
stroke  of  the  piston ;  the  faster  the  locomotive  travels, 
the  more  piston-strokes  it  makes  each  time,  the  more 
steam  escapes,  and  the  faster,  therefore,  must  the  latter 
be  generated  if  its  effect  is  to  remain  the  same. 

The  generation  of  steam,  however,  depends  upon  the 
size  of  the  heated  surface  in  contact  with  the  water 
contained  in  the  boiler ;  it  is  thus  determined  by  the 
original  construction  of  the  machine.  If  the  locomotive 
is  able  each  time  to  generate  just  as  much  steam  as  it 
loses  through  the  piston-strokes,  the  motion  will  then 
be  constant,  all  things  being  equal.  If  it  generates 
more  than  the  cylinders  absorb,  the  surplus  escapes  by 
the  safety-valve  or  is  again  condensed  into  water,  and 
this,  therefore,  determines  the  maximum  of  speed  for 
each  machine,  which  cannot  be  exceeded  without 
lightening  the  load,  unless  the  expansion  of  steam  be 


240  Railway  Routes. 

increased  by  loading  the  valves  and  thus  adding  the 
risk  of  bursting  the  boiler. 

A  machine,  like  the  one  before  our  mind's  eye,  is 
constructed  so  that  it  generates  in  one  hour  steam  from 
38  cubic  feet  of  water *  with  an  actual  pressure  of  60 
lbs.  to  the  square  inch,  which,  under  the  ordinary  pres- 
sure of  the  atmosphere,  occupies  16,350  cubic  feet,  and 
the  whole  is  to  issue  through  the  cylinders.  We  may 
thus  estimate  the  number  of  piston-strokes,  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  driving-wheels,  and  thus  the  distance 
traversed  in  one  hour.  The  result  shows  that  the 
greatest  working  power  of  our  engine  is  as  follows :  it 
moves  a  load  of  4884  cwt.  on  a  horizontal  way  5161 
perches,  or  roundly  2\  miles,  in  one  hour. 

If  the  load  is  lessened,  then  pressure  on  the  pistons 
is  lessened,  and  both  pistons  and  wheels  will  move  faster, 
that  is,  a  greater  distance  will  be  travelled  in  the 
same  time.  The  speed  thus  acquired  would  be  limited 
in  the  first  place,  if  the  heating  surface  of  the  boiler  were 
unable  to  generate  as  much  steam  as  the  cylinders  absorb. 
But  in  order  to  avoid  danger  it  is  necessary  that  the 
motion  should  be  measured  by  a  regulator  long  before 
this  happened. 

The  greatest  speed  is  made,  of  course,  when  the 
machine  with  full  force  descends  a  down  grade,  when, 
for  example,  it  descended  the  ^6  grade  near  Rainhill, 
with  a  speed  of  63|  feet  per  second,  or  10  German 
miles  per  hour,  or  again  when  the  load  is  reduced  to  a 
minimum,  namely,  when  the  locomotive  goes  alone. 
The  distance  from  Potsdam  to  Berlin  was  once 
traversed  in  this  way  in  17  J  minutes,  that  is,  more 
than  one  German    mile   had    to  be  travelled  in  five 


1  Locomotives  for  fast  service  evaporate  60  cubic  feet  of  water  in 
an  hour,  or  about  one  pound  of  water  every  second.  The  volume  of 
steam  generated  in  one  second  would  be  under  the  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere  like  a  pillar  whose  basal  surface  would  be  6  feet  long, 
G  wide  and  1000  high. 


Railway  Routes.  241 

minutes,  which,  of  course,  cannot  take  place  with- 
out danger  and  involves  a  great  destruction  of 
material.1 

And  again,  if  a  locomotive  draws  a  load  not  so  heavy 
with  great  speed,  the  load  can  be  increased  by  lessen- 
ing the  speed.  For  the  pressure  on  the  piston  increases 
with  the  load  and  thus  produces  a  higher  expansion  of 
the  steam  in  the  cylinder  which  tends  to  equalize  the 
expansion  in  the  boiler.  This,  however,  has  its  limit. 
If  the  pressure  on  the  pistons  is  greater  than  the  pres- 
sure on  the  safety-valves,  they  will  open  and  let  the 
steam  escape.  If  the  load  continued  to  be  increased 
the  locomotive  and  wagons  would  finally  stop,  and  if 
the  generation  of  steam  is  kept  up,  the  driving-wheels 
would  revolve  on  their  own  axles  with  great  force.  In 
this  case  the  pistons  are  to  be  regarded  only  as  greater 
safety-valves  of  the  steam-boiler.  The  increase  of 
speed,  therefore,  beyond  a  fixed  point,  cannot  produce 
greater  power  of  locomotion.  The  locomotive  power 
and  speed  are  reciprocally  conditioned,  but  within 
certain  limits.  These  depend  on  the  original  construc- 
tion of  the  machine,  and  moreover,  the  former,  on  the 
expansion  of  steam  which  the  boiler  can  contain,  and 
on  the  diameter  of  the  cylinders ;  the  latter,  on  the 
amount  of  water  that  can  be  heated  and  evaporated 
and  on  the  size  of  the  driving-wheels. 

We  thus  find  here  also  the  well-known  fundamental 
law  of  all  mechanics  confirmed,  namely,  that  what  is 
gained  in  time  is  lost  in  power,  and  what  is  saved  in 
power  is  spent  in  time ;  for  the  mechanical  effect 
remains  quite  the  same,  one  may  move  ten  pounds  one 
foot  or  one  pound  ten  feet  in  a  given  length  of  time. 
And  this  law  is  only  modified  to  a  greater  degree  in  a 
machine  put  together  like  the  steam  engine. 

The  results  ascertained  by  calculation  and  verified 

1  The  greatest  speed  that  can  be  made  on  German  railways 
amounts  to  90  km.  (12  miles)  per  hour. — Str. 

VOL.    I.  E 


242  Railway  Routes. 

by  experiment  show  that  a  locomotive  of  the  above 
dimensions  with  a  speed  per  hour  of 


12,571 

rods 

or 

about 

6| 

miles 

draws     986 

cwt, 

8,217 

d 

)i 

1} 

4} 

j) 

2  465 

11 

4,777 

5) 

>> 

11 

21 

>) 

,,      o,ooy 

11 

Thus  the  various  rates  of  speed  are  to  the  rates  of 
weight  as  6|  :  4J  :  2^  =  1  :  2\  :  5J  ;  that  is,  if  the 
machine  moves  about  one-third  as  rapidly,  it  draws 
more  than  five  times  the  load. 

Another  engine  with  cylinders  only  10 J  inches  wide 
and  wheels  4  ft.  10  inches  high  at  a  speed  of 


17,348 

rods 

or 

about 

8| 

miles 

draws     493 

cwt. 

11,135 

11 

)> 

)> 

5i 

11 

„      1,478 

a 

5,841 

i) 

n 

)i 

3" 

1) 

„      3,982 

11 

Here  the  various  rates  of  speed  are  to  the  weights 
almost  as  3:2:1  =  1:3:8;  that  is,  one-third  the 
less  speed  gives  eight  times  the  greater  weight. 

But  by  a  very  much  greater  decrease  of  speed,  it 
will  not  be  possible  to  move  a  still  greater  load,  because 
its  pressure  on  the  pistons  Avould  then  cause  the 
adhesion  or  "seizure"  of  the  drivino;- wheels  on  to  the 
rails. 

It  is  therefore  obvious  why  lighter  locomotives  with 
small  ten-inch  cylinders  are  used  for  passenger  traffic, 
where  the  chief  object  is  time,  but  heavy  locomotives 
with  large  cylinders  (as  much  as  thirteen  inches) x  and 
small  wheels  for  goods  traffic,  where  the  greatest 
possible  load  is  to  be  moved.  The  wheels  are  often 
doubled  in  number  so  that  a  greater  share  of  the  weight 
of  the  engine  rests  on  the  driving-wheels,  thus  decreas- 
ing the  adhesion.  Such  locomotives  are  built  as  heavy 
as  236  cwt.,  in  order   to  seize    firmly  on    the  rails.2 

1  At  present  cylinders  with  diameters  as  great  as  650  millimeters 
are  used. — Str. 

2  The  weight  of  the  heavy  locomotives  and  tenders  used  on  German 
railways  amounts  to  55  tons  (1100  cwt.)  when  they  are  not  loaded 
with  water  and  fuel. — Stb. 


Railway  Routes.  243 

They  move  slowly  and  with  greater  power,  and  thus 
require  much  less  repairing. 

We  have  already  hinted  at  the  effect  of  the  grades 
of  a  railway  upon  the  management,  when  the  load 
must  not  only  be  drawn  but  also  lifted.  We  have  just 
seen  that  a  heavy  machine,  its  own  weight  included, 
draws  the  enormous  load  of  5539  cwt.  in  a  straight  line 
at  a  speed  of  fully  2^  German  miles  per  hour.  The 
engines  are  generally  constructed  for  less  speed, 
namely,  two  miles  per  hour,  in  order  to  have  a  greater 
horse-power ;  but  there  is  always  a  certain  surplus  of 
power  necessary  to  overcome  incidental  obstacles,  such 
as  wind,  bad  condition  of  the  rails,  irregularities  of  the 
same,  etc. 

The  state  of  the  weather  has  greater  influence  than 
is  generally  supposed.  When  the  wind  1  opposes  the 
direction  of  motion,  it  delays  it ;  and  still  more  so  if  it 
comes  from  the  side,  for  it  then  presses  the  wagons, 
forming;  a  broad  surface  together  with  the  wheel  rims 
against  the  rails,  thus  causing  a  great  amount  of  fric- 
tion. Under  such  circumstances,  in  September,  1839 
(on  a  gentle  incline  between  Bruges  and  Ostend),  three 
locomotives  were  needed  to  take  a  train  of  only  eleven 
wagons,  and  even  then  twice  the  amount  of  time  was 
spent  in  traversing  this  distance. 

The  adhesion  of  the  driving-wheels  is  diminished  in 
case  of  slippery  ice  or  foul  rails.  According  to  the 
experiments  made  in  England  the  amount  of  adhesion, 
under  most  favourable  conditions,  is  equal  to  one- 
seventh  of  the  weight  resting  on  the  driving-wheels,  but 
under  unfavourable  conditions  it  is  decreased  to  one- 
twenty-seventh.2  In  the  first  case  the  adhesion  and 
the  maximum  horse-power  of  a  locomotive  weighing 
236  cwt.,  of  which  about  140  cwt.  rest  upon  the  driv- 

1  Experience  proves  that  the  effect  of  the  wind  upon  the  motion  of 
a  train  is  not  an  unimportant  item  and  is  often  the  cause  of  delays. 
— Str. 

~  It  is  generally  estimated  from  J-  to  ■}. — Str. 

B   2 


244  Railway  Routes. 

ing-wheels,  would  be  =  Lj-  =  20  cwt.  (as  was  com- 
puted above),  but  in  the  second  case  only  -^f-,  or  less 
than  5  cwt.  American  engineers  compute  the  ad- 
hesion, under  most  favourable  conditions,  to  be  ^, 
and  under  most  unfavourable  ^,  hence  considerably 
higher,  but  this  circumstance  remains  to  be  well 
examined,  for  it  is  specially  important  to  roads  whicli 
have  heavy  grades. 

The  grades  are  for  the  most  part  of  greatest  import- 
ance to  railways,  and  we  have  observed  above  that 
undulations  on  the  surface,  hardly  perceptible  to  the 
eye,  can  become  great  obstacles  in  the  laying-out  of  a 
road.     We  must  examine  this  more  closely. 

In  the  experiments  made  in  England  on  the  Liver- 
pool-Manchester and  Grand  Junction  railway,  a  train 
weighing  1463  cwt.  was  made  to  travel  from  Birming- 
ham to  Liverpool  and  from  Liverpool  to  Birmingham, 
and,  as  already  described,  at  every  quarter  of  an 
English  mile  its  speed  in  ascending  and  descending 
the  various  grades  was  taken,  as  well  as  on  the  hori- 
zontal stretch.  If  then  the  time  required  for  ascent 
and  the  time  for  descent  are  found  to  give  also  the 
average  of  speed  in  a  horizontal  line,  then  it  must 
follow  that  the  present  ascents  and  descents  of  the 
road  result  in  no  delays,  as  far  as  the  speed  is  con- 
cerned, and  that  no  more  time  is  required  to  move  the 
roads  than  if  they  were  perfectly  horizontal.  The 
results  of  this  investigation  are  to  be  seen  in  the  table 
on  opposite  page. 

The  differences  of  the  mean  velocities  are  here 
shown  to  be  so  slight  that  the  ascending  and  descend- 
ing grades  are  equalized  up  to  ^7.  When  the  train 
ascended  the  grade  1*330  it  lost  time,  and  travelled 
only  twenty-five  English  miles  per  hour  instead  of 
30*93  miles  which  it  would  have  made  on  the  horizon- 
tal line ;  but  when  it  descended  the  same  it  gained 
time  and  made  thirty-seven  miles  per  hour.     The  loss 


Railway  Routes. 


245 


in  the  one  direction  therefore  was  as  great  as  the  gain 
in  the  other. 


Speed  of  the  train  on  this  decline 

per  hour  in  English  miles. 

Gradient. 

Mean  velocity. 

In  ascending  and  descending. 

1-177 

22-25 

41-52 

31-78 

1265 

24-87 

39-13 

32-06 

1-330 

25-26 

37-07 

31-16 

1-400 

26-87 

36-75 

31-81 

1-532 

27-35 

34-30 

30-82 

1-590 

27-27 

33-16 

30-21 

1-650 

29-03 

32-58 

30-80 

Horizontal 

30-93 

30-93 

30-93 

It  might  be  supposed  that  more  fuel  would  be  con- 
sumed in  making  the  ascent,  but  this  is  not  so.  As 
soon  as  an  engine  ascends  a  grade  it  undergoes  a 
greater  resistance,  and  hence  works  more  slowly. 
There  is,  therefore,  with  the  same  generation  of  steam 
a  greater  expansion  of  steam  in  the  boiler  and  in  the 
cylinders,  consequently  a  greater  pressure  ujDon  the 
piston  and  a  stronger  pulling-power,  without  a  greater 
consumption  of  fuel  than  on  a  level.  As  far  as  fuel  is 
concerned  it  is  a  gain  generally  to  attach  the  heaviest 
possible  load  to  the  engine.  In  the  experiments  made 
by  Cambour  on  the  Liverpool-Manchester  line  the 
locomotive  Atlas,  for  example,  required  697  lbs.  of  coke 
to  draw  493  cwt.,  and  only  double  the  amount  of  coke 
to  draw  3745  cwt.,  that  is,  almost  eight  times  as  heavy 
a  load.  But  in  this  respect  such  an  ascent  equals  an 
increase  of  load.  The  steam  that  rushes  out  of  the 
cylinders  into  the  smoke-stack,  operates  like  a  bellows 
on  the  furnace.  While  the  piston-strokes  become  less 
frequent,  the  lire  also  burns  itself  away  more  slowly 


246  Railway  Routes. 

and  consumes  less  coal.  In  making  the  descent  almost 
no  fuel  is  needed  or,  at  least,  only  as  much  as  is 
necessary  to  keep  up  the  fire,  for  a  new  force  is  added, 
that  of  weight,  which  at  a  3  J0  grade  is  just  enough  to 
overcome  the  friction. 

But  if  neither  time  nor  fuel  are  lost  in  case  of  grades, 
so  far  as  they  counterbalance  each  other,  this  is  by  no 
means  so  with  the  power  that  is  to  be  employed. 

Steep  grades  on  a  railway  lengthen  the  distance,  in- 
crease the  running  expenses,  decrease  the  speed,  in- 
crease the  wear  and  tear,  and  possibly  endanger  the 
profits  of  the  entire  enterprise.  Railways,  therefore, 
and  especially  those  expected  to  have  a  heavy  goods 
traffic,  must  seek,  as  far  as  it  is  feasible,  to  take  a 
direction  verging  little  from  the  level. 

The  engine  which  under  favourable  conditions  will 
draw  5539  cwt.  on  a  level  at  a  speed  of  two  and  a  half 
miles  per  hour,  will  on  grades  of  x  (f00  draw  only  4327  ; 
on  grades  of  3^0  draw  only  2865 ;  and  on  grades 
of  cftf  draw  only  1192. 

If  on  a  railway  level  spaces  alternate  with  such 
grades  two  things  may  be  done :  either  the  load  may 
be  regulated  equally  according  to  the  steepest  of  these 
ascents ;  that  is,  if  grades  of  3^0  occur,  the  locomotive 
will  have  only  a  load  of  2865  cwt.  attached,  or  the  train 
is  actually  laden  with  the  full  load  and  is  assisted  up 
the  steep  places  by  an  auxiliary  locomotive.  The 
former  method  is  used,  for  example,  on  the  Darlington 
line,  where  the  grades,  to  be  sure,  are  not  very  steep, 
but  are  so  frequent  that  an  auxiliary  locomotive  cannot 
be  placed  on  every  one  of  them ;  the  latter,  on  the 
other  hand,  for  the  goods  trains  on  the  Liverpool  line, 
where  occur  grades  of  ^and  even  j^.1  The  passenger 
trains  are  moved  there  without  auxiliaries,  because 
these  are  not  calculated  to  have  a  full  load.  The  weight 
of  the  passengers  amounts,  perhaps,  to  half  the  gross 

1  Adhesion- roads  have  been  built  with  grades  of  TV — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  247 

weight,  and  as  the  locomotive  itself  at  grades  of  3  J0  is 
still  able  to  draw  3000  cwt.,  this  makes  it  possible  for 
every  train  to  carry  about  700  passengers,  which  as 
an  average  means  a  very  large  traffic,  such  as  is  very 
seldom  reached.  On  the  Belgian  lines,  in  the  year 
1839,  the  average  number  of  travellers  for  each  train 
was  only  107.1 

Passengers  are  the  most  valuable  goods,  those  for 
which  the  highest  rates  may  be  demanded,  and  on  this 
account  nearly  all  railways  have  been  hitherto  planned 
for  passenger  traffic ;  the  goods  traffic,  however,  has 
been  treated  as  a  secondary  matter.  Yet  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  it  will  be  seen  that  the  transport 
of  goods  is  the  very  basis  of  all  railway  operation, 
which  will  make  the  investment  profitable,  and  that  the 
actual  national  economic  use  of  the  railways  is  to  be 
sought  in  it. 

People  require  numerous  considerations  in  transport, 
goods  only  punctual  and  safe  conveyance.  The  former 
wish  to  be  carried  rapidly,  at  least  from  four  to  five 
miles  per  hour,  so  that  the  rails,  and  especially  the 
locomotives,  are  used  up  with  the  fearful  speed.  In 
England,  it  is  estimated  that  there  is  one  locomotive  in 
service  for  every  English  mile.2  The  goods  transport 
allows  a  moderate  speed  of  about  1-J  or  2  miles  per 
hour,3  and  thus  saves  the  running  stock.  On  the  Belgian 
lines,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1841,  there  were  17  per 
cent,  of  passenger  carriages  and  1^  per  cent,  of  goods 
wagons  undergoing  repairs.4     The  passenger  traffic  is 

1  In  the  year  1889-90,  the  total  number  of  persons  carried  on  the 
railways  of  Germany  amounted  to  376,825,000.  There  are  for  every 
10,000  inhabitants  8-41  km.  of  railway  lines,  and  for  every  100  square 
km.  7*37  km. — Str. 

2  On  the  German  regular-gauge  railways  there  are,  on  an  average, 
3*27  locomotives  to  10  km.  of  railway  in  operation. — Str. 

3  The  goods  trains  on  the  main  railways  of  Germany  run  at  an 
average  speed,  including  the  stoppage  at  stations,  of  15  km.  per  hour, 
and  express  goods  trains  at  an  average  rate  of  20  km. — Str. 

4  On  the  regular-gauge  railways   of  Germany  at  present  20  per 


248  Railway  Routes. 

subject  to  the  greatest  fluctuation.  In  a  favourable 
season,  at  the  time  of  festivities  or  chance  occasions, 
there  is  an  enormous  press,  while  at  other  times  the 
trains  run  half  empty.  But  full  loads  may  always  be 
counted  on  in  case  of  the  transport  of  goods,  for  these 
do  not,  like  the  traveller  at  the  moment  of  his  arrival, 
demand  to  go  farther,  but  their  departure  may  almost 
always  be  delayed  till  the  next  transport.  They  do  not 
require  frequent  and  expensive  inspection  of  the  lines, 
and  the  running  expenses  are  not  essentially  greater, 
though  the  quantity  of  material  to  be  transported 
may  be  doubled  or  many  times  increased. 

It  has  been  learned  from  the  Belgian  railways  that  in 
case  of  a  very  great  reduction  of  fares  for  passengers, 
the  number  of  travellers  does  not  at  all  make  good  the 
loss  which  the  increase  of  business  produces,  and  which, 
instead  of  relieving  the  necessary  journeys,  often  pro- 
vokes travelling  back  and  forth,  a  thing  injurious  from 
an  economical  standpoint,  at  least  wholly  useless.  The 
greatest  possible  reduction  of  rates  on  goods,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  advantageous  to  all  classes  of  society,  to 
producers  and  consumers  ;  it  enhances  the  whole  wealth 
of  a  nation.  The  Belgian  report  for  1840  rightly  says 
that  the  transport  of  heavy  goods  furnishes  the  chief 
income  of  the  business,  without  requiring  a  proportion- 
ally great  expenditure  for  the  same.  But  if,  then,  the 
lightening  of  the  goods  traffic  is  the  chief  object  both 
for  the  income  of  the  enterprise  and  for  an  important 
economical  reason,  the  construction  of  the  roads  with 
the  least  possible  grades  becomes  a  matter  of  essential 
importance.  For,  although  the  passenger  traffic  of  a 
road  admits  of  light  grades,  yet  disadvantages  enter  at 
once  in  the  case  of  goods  traffic,  where  it  is  a  question 
of  moving  as  many  hundredweight  as  possible  with  the 
same  train. 

cent,  of  locomotives  are  undergoing  repairs  ;  15  of  passenger  car- 
riages ;  and  6  of  goods  wagons  ;  that  is,  of  all  the  rolling-stock 
of  this  class. — Str. 


Railway  Routes. 


249 


On  a  railway  having  3J0  grades,  with  a  given 
number  of  locomotives  in  operation,  either  only  half  as 
much  tonnage  can  be  moved  as  on  one  equally  long,  but 
level,  or  the  same  tonnage  only  with  twice  the  number 
of  locomotives.  Since  for  this  purpose  the  auxiliary 
locomotives  are  employed,  which  must  be  kept  ready 
for  future  use  by  each  road,  the  management  of  the 
former  line  will  not  only  cost  exactly  double  that  of  the 
latter,  but  its  expenses  will  be  very  much  greater. 
But  in  the  case  of  most  of  the  great  railways,  the  lay  of 
the  land  makes  it  by  no  means  easy,  not  even  every- 
where possible,  to  avoid  the  grades.  The  following 
table,  giving  the  steepest  grades  of  the  most  important 
railways  in  Europe,  shows  to  what  an  extent  irregu- 
larities of  the  earth  have  had  to  be  overcome : — 


Germany. 

Brunswick — Vienenburg 
Munich — Augsburg 
Cologne — Aachen 
Taunusbahn 
Leipzig — Dresden 
Vienna — Raab     . 
Berlin — Frankfort 

Belgium. 

Mons — Jurbise   . 
Waremme — Ans. 
Tubize — Braine  le  Comte     . 
Liege — Prussian  Frontier     . 

France. 

Paris — St.  Germain — Mulhausen 
Thann — and  Strasburg — Bale 

England. 

Southampton 

Manchester — Bury 
Leeds — Selby 
Newcastle — Carlisle 
Manchester — Leeds 
London — Brighton 
London  —Croydon 


Steepest  Grade. 

1-283 
1-280 
1-264 
1-250 
1-200 
1-137 
1-114 


1-317 
1-303 
1-223 
1-100 


1-100 
1-125 


1-202 
1-200 
1-16G 
1-1G0 
1-150 
1-147 
1  100 


250  Railway  Routes. 

England  {continued).  Steepest  Grade. 

Grand  Junction  .....  I'lOO 

Dublin— Kingston       .         .         .         .  TICK) 

Liverpool — Manchester         .         .         .  1*089 

Birmingham — Gloucester     .         .         .  T037 

This  last  distance  is  traversed,  notwithstanding  the 
grade,  and  that,  too,  with  American  locomotives. 
Generally,  grades  of  3  J0  can  be  regarded  as  unavoid- 
able on  long  lines.1  Although  the  level  or  a  line 
deviating  very  little  from  it  is  advantageous,  yet  it  is 
evident  that  there  is  a  limit  beyond  which  the  expense 
necessary  to  be  made  to  secure  this  advantage  would 
be  so  great  as  to  be  out  of  proportion  with  the  results 
to  be  gained.     An  illustration  will  make  this  manifest. 

If  between  two  places,  which  are  two  miles  apart, 
there  is  a  hill  80  ft.  high,  and  precipitous  on  both  sides, 
a  railway  with  a  grade  of  3^0  will  mount  the  same 
without  any  further  surface  correction.  But  should  it 
be  desired  to  reduce  the  grade  to  1*1000,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  make  a  cut  two  miles  longer,  and  56  feet 
(80  —  24)  deeper  in  the  middle.  And  to  complete 
this,  perhaps,  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  a  tunnel ; 
at  all  events,  the  earth  work  would  require  an  expendi- 
ture of  several  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  following 
facts  may  be  given  here  in  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
expense  required  for  such  works. 

A  cut,  such  as  the  one  mentioned,  would  require  at 
least  800,000  rods  of  earth  to  be  excavated.  On 
German  lines  that  have  been  constructed  with  the  least 
expense  the  average  cost  of  excavation  has  been  1^  thalers 
(Prussian  currency)  per  rod  ;  this  cut,  therefore,  would 
cost  about  one  million  thalers.  The  cuts  on  the  lines 
mentioned  were  not  more  than  30  feet  deep.  But,  apart 
from  the  still  greater  number  of  rods  of  earth  which 


1  The  steepest  passable  grade  on  the  main  railways  of  Germany  is 
limited  to  g1^,  and  in  exceptional  cases  is  said  not  to  be  greater  than 
A.— Str. 


Railway  Routes.  251 

would  have  to  be  removed  in  the  cut  proposed,  the 
expense  of  excavating  increases  greatly  according  to 
the  depth  from  which  the  earth  has  to  be  taken. 
Should  there  be  no  place  to  deposit  the  earth,  should 
the  ground  be  sandy  and  loose,  so  that  the  slopes  would 
have  to  be  kept  more  even,  the  expense  would  be  in- 
creased so  greatly  that  it  would  be  better  to  construct 
a  tunnel. 

On  the  Cologne-Aachen  line  the  construction  of  the 
tunnel  cost  150  thalers  per  foot ;  on  the  Leipzig- 
Dresden  line,  183  thalers  ;  on  the  London-Birmingham 
(the  Kilsbury  tunnel)  300  thalers,  or,  on  an  average, 
every  quarter-mile  cost  one  million  thalers. 

One  of  the  most  important  questions  to  be  asked  in 
the  building  of  every  railway  is  :  How  much  shall  the 
surface  be  corrected  in  order  to  secure  a  better 
gradient  ?  in  other  words,  How  much  shall  be  expended 
in  construction  in  order  to  save  in  running  expenses  ? 
The  former,  a  sum  paid  out  once  for  all  time  represents 
capital,  the  latter,  one  recurring  annually,  represents 
income. 

This  question  can  by  no  means  be  answered  generally, 
but  it  must  be  ascertained  specially  for  each  concrete 
case.  But  we  shall  attempt  to  lay  down  the  principle 
upon  which  this  depends. 

On  one  side  of  the  account  is  placed  the  estimate  of 
the  line's  cost  in  positive  figures  with  sufficient  exact- 
ness, providing  the  maximum  of  the  grading  is  fixed 
a^  lobe  300  or  iio-  Estimations  are  no  longer  ex- 
ceeded by  twice  the  amount,  or  even  four  times  the 
same,  and  from  our  present  experience  the  estimate 
must  very  nearly  equal  the  cost  of  construction,  so  that 
essential  changes  do  not  make  them  incorrect  after- 
wards. It  may  be  stated  with  sufficient  certainty  that 
the  line  in  the  first  case  will  cost  eight  millions,  in  the 
second  seven,  and  in  the  third  six. 

But  the  second  part  cannot  be  answered  with  equal 
definiteness.      It  may  be  inferred  that  the  travel  be- 


252  Railway  Routes. 

tween  two  cities  connected   by    a    railway    must   be 
increased  to  a  great  extent.     In  this  respect  the  result 
has  always  surpassed  the  greatest  expectation. 
There  travelled,  for  example,  daily : — 


Before  the  con- 

struction of  the 

railway. 

After. 

Between  Liverpool  and  Manchester 

400  people 

1620 

„        Stockton    „     Darlington 

130        „ 

630 

,,        Newcastle  „     Carlisle    ... 

90        „ 

500 

,         Arbroath  „     Forfar 

20       „ 

200 

„        Brussels     „     Antwerp   ... 

200       „ 

3000 

Hence  the  travel  was  increased  about  four,  five,  ten 
and  fifteen  fold.1 

The  goods  traffic  cannot,  of  course,  be  estimated  in 
this  manner,  for  it  is  governed  by  altogether  different 
conditions,  by  a  fixed  law  of  demand  and  supply.  But 
both  increase  likewise  when  the  tariff  decreases,  and 
speed  and  safety  of  transport  become  greater.  But  in 
all  such  matters  the  quantity  cannot  be  ascertained,  but 
this  quantity  is  a  very  important  thing  to  know. 

The  surface  correction  from  a  gradient  of  3J0  to 
x  (^o,  in  the  example  given,  has  cost  one  million  thalers. 
It  may  further  be  ascertained  that  the  mere  transport 
expenses  on  -the  first  grade  will  cost  seven  silver  pfen- 
nige  per  hundredweight  and  per  mile,  on  the  second 
four  pf.,  because  on  the  former  the  power  must  be  in- 
creased or  the  load  decreased.  This  increase  in  running 
expenses  on  one  mile  of  grade,  each  way,  provided  six 
million  hundredweight  of  goods  are  carried,  would 
amount  to  eighteen  millions  silver  pfennige  or  fifty 
thousand  thalers,  which  must  be  renewed  annually,  and 
therefore,  at  four  per  cent,  it  represents  a  capital  of 
1 J  millions.     Thus,  if  one  could  have  anticipated  such 

1  Estimating  Germany's  population  at  40|  millions,  each  person 
makes  9'3  journeys  on  the  regular-gauge  railways  in  Germany. — 
Str. 


Railway  Routes.  253 

a  traffic  or  a  still  greater  one,  it  would  have  been 
justifiable  to  expend  one  million  for  a  cut  through 
the  hill,  and  there  would  oe  gained  for  all  time  the  net 
profits  of  the  undertaking.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
goods  traffic  were  not  so  great,  if  there  were  only  four 
or  five  million  hundredweight  to  be  transported 
annually  on  the  line,  the  interest  on  the  capital  ex- 
pended in  the  correction  has  been  lost  then  for  all 
time.  Large  surface  corrections  must,  therefore,  be 
thoroughly  considered.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
later  increase  of  traffic  through  increase  in  business, 
through  conjunction  with  other  lines  is  very  possible, 
while  a  supplementary  correction  interrupts  the  entire 
traffic  and  involves  the  loss  of  almost  all  former  ex- 
penditures. 

We  hardly  need  to  say  that  we  have  selected  very 
extreme  cases  for  illustration  and  that  it  is  seldom 
necessary  to  make  a  cut  costing  one  million.  It  is  al- 
most always  possible  to  make  a  circuit  and  avoid  such 
a  correction  of  surface. 

If  the  direction  of  a  railway  is  changed  it  is  done  by 
turning  the  course  very  gradually.  If  a  train  is  being 
pulled  in  a  straight  line  and  is  made  to  change  its 
course  by  means  of  a  curve,  the  power  of  inertia 
inherent  in  every  body  causes  the  flanges  of  the  wheels 
to  press  against  the  outer  line  of  rails,  so  that  there  is 
not  only  much  more  friction,  but  also  in  consequence 
of  the  narrow  radii  and  the  great  speed,  great  danger 
lest  the  locomotive  should  jump  the  rails  or  the  axle 
should  break.  Since,  moreover,  on  every  curve  the 
outer  of  the  two  parallel  lines  of  rails  must  be  longer 
than  the  inner,  the  wheels  have  to  travel  a  greater  dis- 
tance on  this  outer  one  than  on  the  inner.  But  both 
wheels  are  fastened  to  the  same  axle,  so  that  one  cannot 
revolve  faster  than  the  other,  the  outer  wheels  are 
forced,  therefore,  to  slide,  and  thus  again  increase  their 
friction. 

Several   very    ingenious    arrangements    have  been 


254  Railway  Routes. 

planned  to  remove  this  difficulty,  but  the  result  has  not 
yet  been  satisfactory.  The  fellies  of  the  wheels,  for 
example,  have  been  made  conical,  so  that  the  outside 
diameter  of  the  wheel  was  less  than  the  one  inside.  If 
on  a  curve  turning  towards  the  right  the  centrifugal 
force  drives  the  wagon  against  the  outer  rail,  the  left 
wheels  revolve  on  the  inner  and  greater  diameter,  the 
right  on  the  outer  and  smaller  one,1  so  that  the  former 
travels  a  longer  distance  in  the  same  length  of  time,  the 
latter  a  shorter.  But  the  conical  form  of  the  wheels 
has  the  great  fault  of  producing  a  swaying  motion  on 
even  a  straight  line,  and  such  a  heavy  sidewise  oscil- 
lation (mou cement  de  lacet)  is  greatly  increased  on  those 
wagons  that  are  quite  a  distance  from  the  locomotive. 

Another  plan  was  to  arrange  the  rails  in  such  a  way 
that  the  outer  wheel,  when  on  the  curve,  would  not  run 
on  the  felly,  but  on  the  flange,  and  thus  necessarily 
prevent  it  from  sliding  off.  This  sliding  would  have 
to  be  hindered  by  a  special  rim  on  the  rail.  But  such 
an  arrangement  would  be  possible  only  when  all  the 
curves  on  a  line  are  described  with  a  very  short  radius, 
and  then  only  in  case  of  the  usual  and  necessary 
height  of  the  flange. 

Moreover  the  wagons  have  been  supplied  with  four 
pairs  of  wheels,2  every  two  pairs  of  which  are  put  as 
closely  together  as  possible  and  are  so  joined  together 
that  the  axles  continue  to  be  parallel  with  the  wagon 
but  in  such  a  Avay  that  they  can  be  slightly  turned 
from  their  regular  position.  In  case  of  the  engine  this 
is  disadvantageous,  as  the  wheels  cannot  be  joined  to- 
gether, and  thus  the  weight  on  the  driving-wheels, 
consequently  the  adhesion,  is  diminished,  while  with 
the  wagons  this  adhesion  becomes  very  great,  which 

1  It  has  not  been  proved  generally  that  the  replacement  of  the 
conical  running  surface  on  the  wheel-tires  with  a  cylindrical  one 
will  answer  the  purpose.  —  Str. 

2  Wagons  with  so-called  truck-frames  are  of  late  used  on  the 
German  railways  (with  four  and  more  pairs  of  wheels). — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  255 

also  causes  many  inconveniences.  The  usual  remedy 
is  .to  lay  the  outer  rails  a  little  higher  than  the 
inner  so  that  when  the  centrifugal  force  drives  the 
wagons  outward,  their  weight  will  draw l  them  inwards 
again,  whereby,  of  course,  the  sliding  of  the  outer 
wheels  has  not  been  overcome. 

All  these  remedies  are  unable  to  answer  the  purpose 
completely,  as  may  be  inferred  from  what  has  been 
said,  since  the  centrifugal  force  is  a  variable  one,  which 
increases  and  decreases  with  the  rate  of  speed,  while 
the  weight  is  altogether  constant.  It  is  always  safest 
to  construct  the  curves  with  a  very  large  radius,  or  to 
moderate  the  speed  at  the  sharper  curves. 

Experiments  made  in  England  have  shown  that  on 
curves  described  with  a  radius  of  -J-  an  English  mile  = 
213  rods,  the  speed  of  the  train  is  equal  to  that  on  a 
straight  piece  of  the  line.  Nor  was  it  possible  to 
observe  the  slightest  decrease  of  speed,  and  these  experi- 
ments were  made  frequently  and  under  different 
conditions,  so  that  the  final  result  cannot  be  doubted. 
On  the  railways  that  have  been  built  in  Germany  there 
are  curves  2  described  with  radii  from  300  to  100  rods ; 
in  France  with  radii  from  300  to  100  rods  ;  in  Belgium 
with  radii  from  300  to  100  rods  ;  in  England,  indeed, 
with  radii  from  100  to  70  rods. 

Although  these  conditions  are  more  or  less  perfectly 
analagous,  yet  indirect  courses  are  deviations  from 
straight  lines  horizontally  projected  just  as  grades  are 
from  vertically  projected  lines.  The  latter  require 
that  the  original  power  be  increased ;  the  former,  that 
it  be  employed  a  longer  time.  If  you  cannot  avoid 
the  hill,  which  you  are  unwilling  to  cut  through,  in 

1  The  elevation  of  the  outer  rails  on  curves  is  determined  by  the 
length  of  the  radius  of  the  same  and  the  speed  made  by  the  trains. — 
Str. 

2  The  smallest  admissible  radius  of  curves  on  German  railways  of 
regular  gauge  is  300  metres,  and  in  exceptional  cases  180  metres. — 
Str. 


256  Railway  Routes. 

any  other  way  than  by  a  circuit  of  three-fourths  of  a 
mile,  the  final  expense  will  be  about  the  same.  For  if 
the  mere  running  expenses  on  the  level  amount  to  four 
silver  pfennige,  the  circuit  of  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
makes  an  additional  cost  of  three  silver  pfennige,  which 
for  six  millions  hundredweight  also  amounts  to  50,000 
thalers  annually. 

Six  millions  hundredweight,  as  stated  before,  is  an 
assumed  amount,  which  cannot  be  easily  realized  on 
one  German  line,1  and  this  example  was  chosen  merely 
in  order  to  show  that  circumstances  themselves  justify 
making  a  very  great  increase  of  invested  capital.  In 
order  to  determine  the  value  of  a  circuit  more  exactly 
by  figures,  let  us  base  our  calculation  upon  the  propor- 
tions given  by  the  Belgian  and  the  Leipzig-Dresden 
lines. 

In  the  year  1840  the  total  number  of  miles  travelled 
on  the  Belgian  roads  was  156,801.  The  whole  expenses 
during  this  time  were  as  follows : — 

generally.  per  mile, 

francs.         thlr.   s.  grosc.    pf. 
For     employes,    for    maintenance, 

buildings,        supplying         of 

materials,  etc.  630,812  1  2         — 

Running-power,    maintenance,   re- 
pairs   and   supply   of   rolling 

stock,    illumination    of    rails, 

coke  -  furnaces,        -workshops, 

water-stations,  etc.    ...  ...     1,835,772  3  3  8 

Direction,  inspection,  management, 

import   and  export  of   goods, 

etc 530,526         —         27         — 


For  each  mile  travelled  by  a  train 


1  The  following  shows  how  greatly  the  goods  traffic  has  increased  : 
in  the  accounts  of  the  year  1889-90  on  regular-gauge  German  rail- 
ways there  were  carried  212,093,339  tons  (4,241,866,780  cwt.)  of 
goods  of  all  kinds  for  tariff,  and  besides  1,473,282  tons  of  goods  for 
the  service;  but  136,150,937  tons  (2,723,018,740  cwt.)  for  tariff 
was  the  portion  carried  by  the  Prussian  government  railways  and  by 
railways  controlled  by  the  Prussian  State. 


Railway  Routes.  257 

In  the  same  year  46,868  miles  were  travelled  on  the 
Leipzig-Dresden  road . 


The  expenses  were 

generally. 

per  mile. 

dol. 

thlr 

.  s.  grosc. 

pf. 

Keeping  of  the  road 

54,656 

1 

5 

Kunning  of  the  road 

50,559 

1 

2 

4 

Firing  and  repairs  on  locomotives, 

maintenance  and  rebuilding  of 

coaches,  wagons,  etc. 

119,622 

2 

16 

7 

Management 

23,391 

— 

14 

11 

Total  for  each  train  per  mile *      ...  5  8         10 

Moreover  (if  the  number  of  miles  travelled  annually 
be  divided  by  the  number  of  miles  in  the  road)  the 
daily  travel  on  the  Belgian  roads  was  more  than  nine 
times  their  entire  length,  on  the  Saxon  more  than 
eight  times.  If  we  use  only  the  last  quantities  given 
in  our  illustration,  we  find  that  the  travel  on  a  road 
making  a  circuit  of  three-fourths  of  a  mile  amounts 
daily  to  f  x  8  or  6  miles,  hence  an  additional  expense 
of  about  31  dols.  daily,  or  annually  of  more  than  11,000 
clols.,  hence  the  circuit  of  one  mile  costs  more  than  the 
interest  on  half  a  million  dollars  for  running  expenses, 
not  counting  in  the  cost  of  construction. 

Circuits,  however,  are  preferable  to  heavy  grades, 
for  they  expose  the  management  to  less  casualties,  they 
are  not  so  destructive  to  the  running  stock,  and,  if  they 
save  a  great  amount  of  engineering,  they  generally 
require  less  expense  to  maintain  them. 

The  detours  are  the  second  important  question  to  be 
discussed  in  determining  the  character  of  a  railway. 

However  great  an  influence  grades  and  the  length  of 

1  A  comparison  of  the  expenses  of  a  train  per  mile  with  the 
statistics  quoted  here  for  the  same  cannot  be  made,  for  the  trains  do 
not  remain  on  one  line,  but  run  on  others  also.  The  running 
expenses  on  the  regular-gauge  German  railways  amounted  to  16,80L 
marks  per  kilometer  of  the  average  length  of  line  in  operation. — 
Str. 

VOL.   I.  S 


258  Railway  Routes. 

a  road  may  have  upon  the  amount  of  capital  invested 
and  cheapness  of  operation,  the  commercial  relations, 
however,  are  under  all  circumstances  the  determin- 
ing factor  in  the  direction  of  railways  (at  least  with 
private  enterprises).  No  one  will  build  a  railway  over 
a  barren  desert,  merely  because  it  is  level  and  because 
it  can  go  straight  ahead.  On  the  contrary,  Ave  see 
some  of  them  prospering  in  the  most  unfavourable 
locations,  provided  only  they  answer  the  actual 
demands  of  commerce.  For  this  reason  railways  ought 
to  adopt  the  old  route  of  trade  established  in  a  country, 
for  they  do  not  create  a  new  trade  in  and  for  them- 
selves, but  they  only  multiply  that  which  already  exists. 
The  railway  ought  not  to  be  the  absolutely  shortest 
line  between  two  termini,  but,  as  far  as  possible,  touch 
manufacturing  cities  and  prosperous  country  districts. 
A  poor  locality  will  not  become  rich  because  long  goods 
trains  rush  across  its  fields,  nor  a  city  a  commercial 
centre  with  great  invested  capital  and  outside  business 
connections  because  a  railway  leads  to  it.1  The  rail- 
way will  succeed  and  bring  success  only  there  where 
the  need  of  quick  and  cheap  communication  has  been 
present.  Detours  therefore  are  justifiable  to  a  certain 
extent,  and  the  commercial  relations  determine  the 
direction  of  a  line  in  this  latter  case  more  than  the  lay 
of  the  land. 

The  railway  ought,  therefore,  to  consider  not  merely 
the  interests  of  the  two  termini,  however  important 
these  may  be,  but  also  materially  that  of  the  country 
lying  between  them  and  the  smaller  cities.2     The  travel 

1  The  great  amount  of  business  which  trade  and  industry  have 
received  by  means  of  railways  has  not  infrequently  made  unindus- 
trious  cities  and  poor  localities  centres  of  commerce  and  industrious 
cities,  especially  the  places  that  became  junctions  on  busy  railway 
lines. — Str. 

2  This  requirement  is  now  being  taken  into  account  by  the  build- 
ing of  lines  of  secondary  importance,  while  the  main  lines  serve 
almost  exclusively  in  making  the  shortest  connection  between  the 
chief  stations  (commercial  and  industrial  cities). — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  259 

of  these  parts,  the  so-called  inner  traffic,  is  much  more 
important  than  is  generally  inferred.  In  the  year  1840 
the  half  of  the  whole  Belgian  population,  namely  2J 
millions  of  people,  had  travelled  on  the  45  miles  of  the 
Belgian  lines,  and,  according  to  the  inquiries  that  were 
made,  everyone  of  these  people  had  travelled  on  an  aver- 
age only  5^  miles.  In  the  year  1841,  on  the  Magde- 
burg-Leipzig line,  each  traveller  had  gone  on  an  average 
5^  miles  ;  on  the  Leipzig-Dresden,  1\  miles.  Thus  it  is 
by  no  means  the  through  communication,  from  terminus 
to  terminus,  which  supports  the  road,  but  chiefly  the 
travellers  of  short  distances,  from  intermediate  station 
to  intermediate  station,  or  from  one  of  these  to  the 
terminus.1  But  if  a  line  does  not  touch  towns  forming 
such  intermediate  stations,  it  loses  this  important  traffic. 

The  question  whether  a  detour  of  so  many  thousand 
rods  shall  be  made  in  order  to  touch  this  busy  city,  or 
that  productive  district,  depends  solely  on  a  proper 
consideration  of  the  increased  cost  of  construction  and 
the  additional  operating  expenses  for  said  thousand 
rods,  in  comparison  with  the  anticipated  increase  of 
traffic,  which  latter,  however,  can  be  determined  only 
approximately. 

The  statement  is  generally  true  that  active,  busy 
traffic  allows  and  demands  a  more  expensive  and  more 
perfect  railway-plant,  a  less  organized  state  of  trade 
and  industry  are  satisfied  with  a  less  perfect  medium, 
and  only  such  a  one  makes  it  profitable.2  Hence  the 
enormous  and  yet  admissible  expense  of  the  English 
lines,  hence  the  necessary  cheapness  of  the  German. 

In  England,  for  example,  the  London-Greenwich 
line,  only  a  little  over  three-fourths  of  a  mile  long,  cost 
5,480,000  thalers,  but,  of  course,  for  exceptional  reasons, 

1  This  statement  holds  true  to-day ;  on  the  regular-gauge  German 
railways  each  passenger  travels  on  an  average  26  99  km. 

2  In  earlier  years  railways  were  almost  all  built  alike,  but  in  the 
last  decade  those  lines  which  had  to  expect  less  business  have  also 
been  built  and  equipped  more  simply. — Str. 

s  2 


26o 


Railway  Routes. 


as  this  line  is  built  the  whole  distance  on  arches  of 
masonry,  and  one-third  of  its  distance  lies  in  the  city 
of  London  itself.  The  mere  property  indemnification 
cost  more  than  two  millions  of  dollars. 

The  following  are  the  costs  per  German  mile  : — 


Thlr. 

In  England- 

—London — Croydon. 

•         •         . 

2,302,000 

Manchester — Bolton    . 

.         •         . 

1,890,000 

London — Birmingham 

.         .         . 

1,560,000 

Liverpool — Manchester 

.         .         • 

1,380,000 

Great  Western    . 

1,340,000 

Manchester — Leeds 

•         •         • 

1,260,000 

Grand  Junction  . 

... 

720,000 

Preston — Lancaster    . 

,         .         . 

716,000 

North  Union 

... 

704,000 

Leeds — Selhy     . 

. 

544,000 

Glasgow — Garnkirk     . 

•         .         • 

378,000 

York — North  Midlands 

... 

306,000 

Arbroath — Forfar 

... 

216,000 

Arbroath- — Dundee 

... 

210,000 

In  France— 

-Etienne — Lyons  . 

.         •         • 

592,000 

In   Belgiuni- 

-The  first   thirteen  sections,  which  for 
about  three-quarters  the  distance  have 

only  a  single  track  1     . 

. 

304,000 

In  Germany, 

with  single  track — Cologne- 

— Aachen 

500,000 

Dusseldorf — Elberfeld 

500,000 

Berlin — Potsdam 

... 

400,000 

Leipzig — Dresden  (double 

track). 

360,000 

Baden 

.         . 

370,000 

Tannus 

.         . 

320,000 

Hamburg — Bergedorf  . 

... 

375,000 

Munich — Augsburg     . 

270,000 

Berlin — Frankfort-on-Oder. 

250,000 

Berlin — Anhalt  . 

. 

210,000 

Berlin — Stettin  (narrow  " 

crown  wide  ") 

184,000 

Magdeburg — Leipzig  . 

209,000 

Kaiser  Ferdinand — Nordbahn 

164,000 

Railway  lines  which  had  to  overcome  such  enormous 


irregularities  of  surface, 


as  the  Cologne-Aachen  and 


1  The  line  from  Liege  to  Verviers,  which  is  still  building,  will  be, 
however,  much  more  expensive,  in  fact  the  most  expensive  on  the 
Continent. 


Railway  Routes.  261 

Diisseldorf-Elberfeld,  cannot  give  up  any  proportion  of 
its  commerce,  nor  likewise  those  that  had  to  pay  a  big 
apprentice's  fee  for  the  novelty  of  the  thing.  It  may 
be  assumed  that  the  railways  in  Germany  can  be  rebuilt 
for  one-fourth  of  a  million  on  an  average  per  current 
mile.1  Accordingly  the  expenses  of  a  railway  increase 
about  three-quarter  millions  for  each  mile  of  detour,  if 
the  increased  running  expenses  be  added  as  half  a 
million  of  capital  to  the  average  building-capital  of  a 
quarter  a  million,  and  these  three-quarter  millions 
ought  to  be  overbalanced  by  the  anticipated  increase 
of  traffic  gained  by  the  detour. 

We  have  seen  how  both  the  surface  of  the  land  and 
business  matters  compel  railways  to  deviate  from  the 
straight  line  :  it  remains  to  allude  in  a  few  words  to  the 
political  and  territorial  relations. 

It  is  natural  that  the  position  of  a  railway  should 
lead  commerce  to  take  a  certain  direction  for  a  long 
time  and  from  a  wide  territory.  One  would,  therefore, 
have  supposed  that  governments  would  have  put  them- 
selves at  once  at  the  head  of  these  undertakings,  in  order 
to  control  the  directions  of  the  roads  for  the  interest  of 
the  community.     But  this  was  not  the  case. 

In  England,  to  be  sure,  everything  could  be  en- 
trusted to  the  partnership  of  private  individuals.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  undertaking  too  great  or  too  expensive 
for  their  surplus  of  capital,  for  the  people's  spirit  of 
enterprise,  and  for  the  highly  developed  industry  and 
commerce ;  and    there    were    no   political  boundaries 

1  The  building-capital  expended  on  the  construction  and  equip- 
ment of  the  regular-gauge  German  railways  amounts  to  252,268 
marks  for  one  kilometer  in  length  of  operation.  The  total  cost  of  the 
city  line  in  Berlin,  including  the  shared  costs  for  the  reconstruction 
of  the  Silesian  station  in  Berlin,  and  for  the  new  station  at  Char- 
lottenburg,  amounted  to  a  round  68,140,000  marks  for  \\\  km.  of 
length,  of  which  33,412,000  marks  were  paid  for  property  indemni- 
fication, and  the  latter  would  have  demanded  much  more,  if  the  line 
had  not  passed  long  distances  over  fiscal  property,  and  had  not 
touched  the  outer  parts  of  the  city  of  Ackerland. — Str, 


262  Railway  Routes. 

within  the  entire  kingdom,  washed  on  all  sides  by  the 
sea,  which  placed  barriers  in  the  way  of  construction,  or 
elicited  feelings  of  jealousy.  But  it  was  different  on 
the  Continent,  especially  in  Germany.  Yet  the  Bel- 
gian Government  was  not  long  the  only  one  that  under- 
took to  build  railways  for  the  whole  country  upon  a 
plan  predetermined,  and  for  the  interest  of  the 
state  as  well  as  of  individuals.  The  results  have 
already  shown  how  successfully  it  has  done  this. 

In  choosing  the  route  for  railways  in  Germany  it  is 
not  a  question  whether  this  or  that  inland  town  should 
be  touched,  but  very  often  whether  universal  com- 
merce ought  to  take  its  course  through  a  kingdom  or 
avoid  it.  Yet  all  this  was  entrusted  to  the  enterprising 
spirit  of  private  people,  and  let  it  be  said  in  their 
honour  that  Germany  became  through  their  courage 
and  insight  the  richest  country  in  railways  on  the  Con- 
tinent, Belgium  excepted,  before  the  Government  gave 
them  any  assistance.1  Of  course  passenger  traffic  was 
the  main  object,  only  the  most  lucrative  lines  were  con- 
structed, and  routes  were  taken  which  would  not  be 
satisfactory  for  a  system  of  railways  planned  by  the 
government. 

But  it  soon  became  apparent  that  the  government 
could  not  be  separated  from  such  great  undertakings.2 
Then  the  postal  system  conflicted  with  the  railways, 
which  would  be  a  substantial  gain  for  the  administra- 
tion if  in  its  hands,  and  which,  as  private  property, 
became  a  competitor  that  could  not  be  overcome. 
Necessity  ;  the  furnishing  the  less  favoured  provinces 
with  a  readier  market  for  their  produce  ;  the  uniting 
the  more  distant  parts  of  the  country  with  the  main 
part ;  finally,  the  military  interests ;  in  fact,  everything 

1  The  total  length  of  regular-gauge  German  railways,  exclusive  of 
branch  lines  to  manufacturing  concerns,  etc.,  at  present  amounts  to 
41,879  km.,  and  that  of  narrow-gauge  to  1051  km. — Str. 

2  Legislation  upon  the  railway  enterprises  in  Prussia,  from  the 
3rd  of  November,  1838.  — Str. 


Railway  Routes.  263 

urged  the  building  of  roads  in  those  places,  even  where 
they  could  not  immediately  pay  a  profit,  and  the  state 
alone  was  able  to  do  this. 

Nearly  all  the  German  Governments  have  gradually 
undertaken  of  themselves  the  construction  of  railways 
under  various  conditions,  or  have  supported  or 
guaranteed  such  operations.1  Prussia  took  this  step 
at  last,  but  in  the  most  splendid  style,  for  a  guarantee 
was  given  at  once  for  two  hundred  miles  of  railway, 
and  the  problem  which  we  have  tried  to  throw  light 
upon  will,  therefore,  be  abundantly  discussed  here  in 
the  near  future.2 


1  Order  of  the  Supreme  Cabinet  of  November  22nd,  1842,  concern- 
ing 3|  per  cent,  bonds  to  be  taken  up  on  some  railway  concerns  in 
need  of  help,  in  Prussia. — Str. 

2  According  to  the  law  of  December  7th,  1849,  the  first  railways 
built  in  Prussia  by  the  state  and  the  Saarbrucke  line  were  opened, 
1850,  the  first  of  the  eastern  line  (Ostbahn),  1851. — Str. 


THE    EASTERN    QUESTION 


PEEFACE. 


The  five  shorter  essays  that  follow  were  published  between  the  years 
1841  and  1844  in  the  Augsburger  AUgemeinen  Zeitung.  These  are  : 
"  Germany  and  Palestine,"  1841 ;  "  The  Country  and  People  of  the 
Kurds,"  1841 ;  "  The  Military  and  Political  Situation  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,"  1841;  "  Keshid,  Izzet,  and  the  Porte,"  1842;  "The 
Mouth  of  the  Danube,"  1844. 

These  essays,  according  to  their  contents,  may  be  grouped  together 
under  the  title  "  Essays  upon  the  Eastern  Question, "^and  although  the 
second  discusses  it  from  an  ethnographical  standpoint,  and  the  fifth 
from  a  geographical  one,  yet  all  five  treat  primarily  of  the  political 
and  military  events  in  the  East,  that  have  often  greatly  agitated 
Europe  in  the  past  and  continue  to  do  so  at  present. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1839,  Moltke  returned  from  Turkey  where, 
during  his  four  years'  residence,  he  had  acquired  a  thorough  know- 
ledge of  the  country  and  the  people,  and  had  collected  various  and 
valuable  stores  of  information.  He  could  thus  be  well  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  authoritative,  most  efficient  critics  of  the  East. 

After  his  return  from  the  battlefield  of  Nisib,  there  was  a  momen- 
tary pause  in  the  long  years  of  contentions  between  the  Sublime 
Porte  and  its  rebellious  vassal,  Mehemed  Ali  of  Egypt,  when  it 
seemed  as  if  the  decaying  power  of  the  Turks  would  be  completely 
crushed.  The  Sultan,  Mahmoud  III.,  who  had  begun  to  reform  his 
empire  with  an  iron  hand,  but  with  little  success,  had  died  a  short 
time  before  the  terrible  news  of  Nisib  had  reached  Stamboul.  His 
successor  was  Abdul  Mejid,  a  weak  lad  of  sixteen.  He  found  his 
empire  without  army  or  navy,  for  the  traitorous  Kapudan  Pascha 
had  taken  the  latter  to  Alexandria  to  Mehemed  Ali ;  he  found  all 
Syria  in  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians,  to  whom  the  way  to  the 
Bosphorus  was  open.  But  Mehemed  Ali  was  not  able  to  reap  the 
benefits  of  the  success  he  had  won,  and  when  Rescind  Pasha,  who 
had  an  European  education  and  favoured  progress,  entered  the 
ministry  at  Constantinople,  those  European  powers  that  were 
inclined  to  support  the  integrity  and  temporal  development  of 
Turkey,  began  to  lay  hold  upon  stronger  measures.  The  Hattis- 
cherif  of  Gulhane,  which  was  executed  by  Rescind  (2nd  November, 


268  The  Eastern  Question. 

1839),  was  most  influential  in  producing  a  favourable  impression  on 
the  powers.  This  decree  of  the  Sultan  insured  to  all  his  subjects, 
both  the  Faithful  and  the  Kajah,  security  for  their  lives,  honour  and 
property,  equal  taxation,  and  a  systematic  collection  of  the  taxes  ; 
he  thus  meant  to  take  a  far  more  important  step  on  the  road  of  reform. 
The  ministry  of  Thiers  in  France  alone  still  continued  to  support  the 
bold  demands  of  Mehemed  Ali,  so  that  the  rest  of  the  great  European 
powers  formed  a  quadruple  alliance  for  the  protection  of  the  Porte 
(July  15th,  1840),  and  made  military  advancements  against  the  rebel- 
lious vice-regent,  who  had  relied  upon  the  aid  of  France  which  had 
not  been  actually  given.  An  Anglo- Austrian  fleet  and  a  Turkish  land- 
force  attacked  the  Egyptians  in  Syria,  and  after  Beyrout,  Akka, 
and  other  coast  towns  had  fallen,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Syria  had 
taken  up  arms  for  the  Sultan,  Ibrahim  Pasha,  the  son  and  general  of 
Mehemed  Ali,  vacated  the  country  and  led  his  army  back  to  Egypt 
in  a  manner  that  soon  resembled  flight.  In  the  meantime  an 
English  squadron  appeared  before  Alexandria,  and  Mehemed  Ali 
was  again  forced  to  beg  for  peace,  which  was  granted  him  upon 
acknowledgment  of  the  inheritance  of  his  dynasty  (in  the  beginning 
of  1841). 

But  soon  after  these  events  Rescind  Pasha  left  the  ministry,  and 
a  short  time  after  Izzet  Mehemed  Pasha  was  appointed  his  successor. 
Izzet  was  one  of  the  mo4  influential  leaders  of  the  old  Turkish  con- 
servative party,  and  his  entrance  into  office  was  the  signal  for  a 
complete  rupture  in  the  endeavours  for  reform.  But  there  were  so 
many  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  the  weak  young  Sultan  that 
Izzet  also  remained  a  short  time  in  the  ministry,  and  the  government 
at  Constantinople  continued  to  be  agitated  for  a  long  time  by  oppos- 
ing factions,  nor  was  it  able  to  become  master  of  the  internal 
difficulties  during  the  time  in  which  the  following  articles  were 
written.  Rebellions  in  Crete,  complications  in  the  government  of 
the  Lebanon,  a  serious  quarrel  with  Persia,  disturbances  in  the 
Danube  principalities,  all  combined  to  make  the  condition  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  insecure  for  years,  and  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  the 
world. 

It  seemed  necessary  to  preface  the  following  essays  with  this 
cursory  historical  review,  for  the  purpose  of  informing  the  reader  of 
to-day. 


ESSAYS 


UPON   THE 


EASTERN    QUESTION 


GERMANY  AND  PALESTINE. 

A  little  company  of  Europeans  lias  brought  the 
Syrian  question,  which  was  long  unsettled,  to  a  speedy 
issue  by  means  of  a  forcible  and  successful  mode  of 
action.  Acre  fell  under  the  thunders  of  an  Anglo- 
Austrian  fleet,  and  the  phantom  of  an  Egyptian- Arabian 
power  vanished  of  itself.  Lovely  Syria  was  con- 
quered a  second  time  for  the  padishah,  the  bold  vassal 
who   had    so   long   defied    his   authority   till   he   was 

humbled  in  the  dust but  is  the  Eastern  conflict  now 

settled  by  this  means?  Hardly  anyone  will  answer 
this  in  the  affirmative  if  he  has  travelled  through  the 
Turkish  provinces  and  is  able  and  willing  to  recognize 
the  truth. 

The  complete  extinction  of  military  spirit  among 
these  races  that  were  once  so  warlike  is  manifested  on 
every  new  occasion.  If  it  was  in  the  interest  of  the 
English  to  lay  stress  upon  the  strength  and  boldness  of 
the  action  of  the  Turkish  army  against  Ibrahim,  the 
peaceful  and  impartial  witnesses  and  associates,  on  the 
other  hand,  declare  that  they  saw  just  as  little  display 
of  brilliant  fighting  as  a  year  before  at  Nisib.  The 
Europeans  have  done  everything.     From  the  moment 


270  The  Eastern  Question. 

that  they  left  the  scene,  when  their  fleet  sailed  away 
from  the  Syrian  coast,  the  Turkish  army  had  scarcely 
taken  a  step  farther,  and  yet  there  was  required  only  a 
last  push  to  effect  the  complete  destruction  of  the  de- 
cayed structure  of  might  and  barbarism.  The  Porte 
was  unable  to  conquer  the  rich  country  between  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  it  has  as 
little  power  to  hold  these  provinces,  had  they  been 
presented  to  the  Porte.  It  is  not  able  to  keep  the 
Syrians  in  subjection  by  a  strong  form  of  government, 
as  the  military  despotism  of  Ibrahim  had  been,  nor  can 
it  gain  that  country  by  a  just  and  faithful  administra- 
tion of  laws,  because  the  very  first  element  necessary 
for  such  an  administration,  honest  officers,  was  wholly 
wanting,  and  the  Hattischerif  of  Gulhane  could  not 
produce  it  by  magic.  If  the  Ottoman  Government 
desired  to  set  aside  a  rich  salary  for  its  governors,  they 
will  continue  to  make  the  usual  extortions  in  addition 
to  the  salary.  The  Turkish  pashas  will  return  with 
their  farming  of  taxes  and  selling  of  offices,  with  their 
force-sales  and  bondage,  in  short,  with  their  old 
despotism  and  oppression,  and  Syria  will  rise  in  arms 
against  its  new  rulers,  just  as  it  has  always  done  in 
times  past  against  former  rulers,  because  it  has  always 
been  abused.  Small  revolutions  will  arise  among  the 
mountaineers  and  in  the  big  cities.  Then  a  war  will 
be  waged,  just  as  the  Rescind  Pashas  and  Hails  Pashas 
fought  against  the  unfortunate  Kurds,  when  they  slew 
women  and  children,  and  burned  down  the  beautiful 
villages  in  order  to  rule  a  short  time  over  an  exhausted 
and  desolated  country  which,  however,  they  could  not 
retain  for  a  long  time.  Certainly,  there  is  no  need  of 
foresight  to  prophesy  that,  even  if  there  is  no  attack 
made  from  without,  the  Turks  will  again  be  driven  out 
of  Syria  in  one  or  two  years. 

But  this  shock  will  not  fail  to  come.  The  fact  that 
one  of  the  strong  powers  withdrew  from  the  Euro- 
pean Areopagus,  which  had  undertaken  to  solve  the 


The  Eastern  Question.  271 

Syrian  problem,  has,  indeed,  not  been  able  to  set 
back  its  measures,  though  its  absence  has  perceptibly 
influenced  the  results  of  this  same.  A  few  broad- 
sides from  the  line  of  British  ships  commanded  by 
the  brave  Napier  would  have  frightened  the  Arabian 
garde  nationale  from  their  wretched  batteries  in  front 
of  Alexandria,  and  the  flames  of  a  general  revolution 
would  have  broken  out  in  Egypt  which  had  been  fear- 
fully and  long  oppressed.  Instead  of  this,  and  out  of 
regard  for  France,  the  Grand- Seignior  was  forced,  or 
what  is  equivalent  to  the  same,  was  most  politely  invited 
by  the  quadruple  alliance  to  sanction  a  part  of  the  usur- 
pation of  his  vassal.  The  heir  of  the  caliphs,  the 
multiplier  of  the  inseparable  empire,  is  to  bestow  a  part 
of  this  very  empire  upon  a  rebel  as  an  inheritance. 
But  what  is  meant  by  inheritance  in  the  dynasty  of  the 
Arnauts  ?  Whoever  is  acquainted  with  the  state  of 
affairs  in  the  East  knows  also  how  loose  the  family  ties 
are  there.  The  sons  and  daughters  of  Mehemed  Ali 
are  the  children  of  his  wives,  and  part  of  them  are  so 
little  related  that  they  could  intermarry.  Ibrahim,  for 
example,  is  only  the  stepson  of  the  Governor  of  Egypt. 
The  Ottoman  Empire  itself  was  not  held  by  right  of 
primogeniture  but  by  right  of  seniority.  The  right  of 
primogeniture  of  a  minor  could  not  be  made  good 
against  the  might  of  an  uncle,  and  in  doubtful  cases 
secret  executions,  putting  out  of  eyes,  or  other  acts  of 
violence,  were  always  necessary  to  help  along  the  un- 
certain succession.  Just  so  it  would  be  now  if  the 
offspring  of  the  reigning  house  were  not  raised  in  the 
"  princes'  coop,"  if  they  commanded  provinces  and 
armies,  and  if  they  had  the  power  and  of  course  the 
disposition  also  to  fight  among  themselves  for  the  rich 
inheritance.  Finally,  the  descendants  of  the  Arnautian 
guncharger  are  not  encircled  with  that  religious  nimbus 
which  hallows  the  descendants  of  Osman,  and  even  the 
most  distant  relatives,  the  Tartar  Khans  at  Rodosto, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Mussulmans.     Foreign  rulers  also  will 


272  The  Eastern  Question. 

stretch  out  their  arms  for  a  part  of  the  great  inheritance 
of  the  venerable  Vice-regent,  at  the  moment  when  he 
departs  from  the  scenes  of  his  long  and  active  life. 

If  it  is  possible  to  regenerate  the  Turkish  Empire  as 
such,  it  can  proceed  only  from  a  generation  which  must 
be  educated  to  it,  and  that,  too,  from  Mussulman  roots. 
All  proselytism  and  attempts  at  Europeanization,  all 
hostile  attacks,  as  well  as  friendly  interpositions,  lead 
only  to  complete  dissolution.  The  Porte  became 
weaker  because  of  the  protection  of  Russia  than  it  had 
been  after  the  fall  of  Varna ;  it  is  weaker  to-day  when 
England  presents  it  with  Syria  than  when  it  lost  the 
battle  of  Nisib.  The  marasmus  of  total  indifference 
has  seized  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  the  government, 
acting  only  by  the  impulse  that  foreigners  have  given 
it,  has  sunk  into  a  state  of  impotency  which  offers  every 
lucky  adventurer  a  prospect  for  the  success  of  his  am- 
bitious plans.  The  complications  of  the  years  1830, 
1833,  1839  and  1840,  will  be  renewed  and  at  shorter 
intervals.  Is  the  peace  of  Europe  to  be  exposed  each 
time  to  the  serious  danger  in  which  it  now  is  ? 

Till  now,  European  diplomacy  has  sought  only  to 
delay  the  crises  ;  it  has  not  undertaken  to  remove  the 
causes  which  give  rise  to  them.  Of  course,  important 
and  well-established  objections  can  be  made  against 
every  remedy  which  has  been  proposed,  but  with  mere 
negation  nothing  is  done. 

A  few  voices  have  dared  to  declare  that  there  is 
no  real  life  inherent  in  the  body  of  the  Turkish  state ; 
that  Islam  permits  neither  progress  nor  change ;  that 
reform  has  broken  Mussulman  strength,  and  it  can- 
not be  replaced  by  foreign  institutions  ;  that  a  great, 
helpless,  and  defenceless  country  having  entered  into 
the  circle  of  European  powers  is  a  continual  source  of 
jealousy,  of  terror,  and  of  contention ;  that  whatever 
cannot  exist  naturally  must  perish ;  that  Turkey  must 
be  divided. 

Such  a  step  is  contrary  to  moral  right,  with  which 


The  Eastern  Question.  273 

policy  by  no  means  accords,  though  it  strives  to  do  so 
more  and  more  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  opposed 
by  the  warning  example  of  a  former  division,  the 
results  of  which  will  not  be  forgotten  by  Europe  for  a 
long  time  to  come.  Finally,  the  division  of  Turkey 
will  be  like  the  division  of  a  diamond  ring  ;  the  question 
is,  Who  is  to  possess  the  most  precious  of  solitaires, 
Constantinople  ?  Who  will  be  satisfied  with  the  worth- 
less remainder,  with  the  extensive  stretches  of  land 
which  are  occupied  by  semi- Arabic  races  ?  Other 
voices  have  advised  that  certain  portions  of  the 
Turkish  territory  be  surrendered  to  European  civiliza- 
tion, as  has  been  done  with  Hellas. 

An  enthusiastic  desire  for  the  land  where  the 
Redeemer  was  born,  where  He  lived,  taught,  and 
suffered,  once  caused  millions  of  pious  Christians  to  give 
up  their  homes  and  suffer  unspeakable  hardships  in 
order  to  tread  the  consecrated  ground  of  Palestine. 
The  flower  of  western  knighthood  shed  its  life-blood  in 
order  to  wrest  the  holy  places  from  the  dominion  of  the 
infidels.  How  greatly  this  religious  feeling  had  cooled, 
when,  just  eight  hundred  years  after  the  first  crusade, 
the  great  general  of  the  very  nation  bearing  the  title  of 
Protector  of  the  Catholic  Faith  in  the  East,  could  say 
drily  enough,  after  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  "  Jerusalem 
n'entre  pas  dans  ma  ligne  d'operation  !  "  The  present 
feeling  lies  between  these  two  extremes,  and  the  thought 
of  placing  Palestine  under  Christian  protection  does  not 
seem  to  be  given  up  in  Europe.  However,  religious  feel- 
ings alone  dare  not  decide  the  point  in  politics.  Palestine 
as  a  Christian  principality  must,  in  its  first  step  to- 
wards fulfilment,  contain  also  the  possibility  of  its  con- 
tinuance. Should  it  be  desired  to  make  Jerusalem  with 
the  holy  places  about  it  one  state  by  itself,  as  was  done 
with  Cracow,  it  would  be  a  state  in  a  deserted,  barren 
district,  cut  off  from  the  sea,  far  from  its  protectors, 
surrounded  by  Arabian  bands  of  robbers,  threatened  by 
Mussulman  neighbours,  and  rent  internally  by  furious 

vol.  1.  t 


274  The  Eastern  Question. 

hatred  among  the  sects.  Such  a  state  would  certainly 
be  a  very  unfortunate  creation.  Truly  it  is  a  fortunate 
thing  that  the  tolerant  Mussulmans  had  the  power  in 
their  hands,  and  not  one  of  the  sects  which  have  so 
completely  forgotten  the  doctrine  of  gentle  toleration 
and  brotherly  love  at  the  grave  of  the  Redeemer,  that 
we  blush  before  the  infidels.  From  the  very  beginning 
this  much  is  apparent,  that  the  new  creation  must  have 
a  more  extensive  territory,  a  part  of  the  sea-coast,  that 
it  must  be  fortified.  Why  should  the  fine  harbour  and 
the  strong  walls  of  Acre  be  surrendered  into  the  hands 
of  the  weak  Turks,  which  they  would  lose  again  the 
next  instant  ? 

It  may  be  further  claimed  that  the  control  of  the 
new  state  ought  to  be  handed  over  to  a  sovereign 
prince  of  the  German  nation  and  of  genuine  tolerance. 
The  exclusive  supremacy  of  any  Christian  church  would 
disseminate  seeds  of  destruction  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  state's  existence.  We  said  a  German  prince, 
because  Germany  has  the  negative  advantage  of  not 
being  a  maritime  power,  while  it  has  the  nearest  com- 
mercial road  to  the  East  through  the  navigation  of  the 
Danube  and  the  Austrian  ports  on  the  Adriatic. 
Finally,  we  said  a  sovereign  prince,  because  only  this 
form  of  government  is  fitted  for  a  semi-barbarous  state 
of  affairs,  because  it  is  the  best  of  all  forms  in  the  hands 
of  a  just,  wise,  and  energetic  regent,  and  because  only 
such  a  ruler  can  make  anything  out  of  the  new  creation. 

The  Greeks  had  fought  for  and  gained  their  indepen- 
dence, not,  indeed,  without  the  help  of  Europe,  bat 
principally  through  their  own  exertions.  They  are  a 
nation  of  their  own,  and  therefore  had  a  right  to 
demand  that  their  administration,  their  army,  their 
officials,  and  their  sovereign  should  be  Greek.  But 
here  lies  a  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  progress 
of  the  Greek  state,  for  the  people  destined  to  provide 
these  elements  is  itself  as  yet  in  a  state  of  semi-civiliza- 
tion.    The  case  would   be  far   different  with   the  in- 


The  Eastern  Question.  275 

habitants  of  Southern  Syria.  They  would  be  freed 
from  the  Turkish  yoke,  but  as  they  have  not  yet  reached 
even  the  Greek  stage  of  civilization,  it  would  be  most 
likely  that  the  Europeans,  so  superior  to  them  in 
morality,  knowledge,  and  energy,  would  supply  the 
nobility,  the  privileged  class  and  the  officials.  But,  of 
course,  these  Europeans  ought  not  to  be  the  deserters 
from  the  other  nations,  as  is  the  case  in  Turkey.  The 
state  which  gives  Palestine  a  prince  must,  beside  making 
him  an  allowance,  provide  him  out  of  the  number  of 
her  military  and  civil  servants  with  a  body  of  tried 
men,  whose  services  would  be  absolutely  indispensable. 
For  without  prudent,  active,  and  above  all,  honest 
officials,  no  administration,  and  certainly  no  coloniza- 
tion, is  conceivable.  As  to  the  army  of  a  ruler  of 
Palestine,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  would  necessarily  be 
very  small,  in  order  riot  to  be  a  useless  burden  on  the 
country.  Its  nucleus  would  be  a  few  battalions, 
squadrons,  and  batteries,  with  European  soldiers  and 
officers,  in  which,  however,  vacancies  might  occasion- 
ally be  filled  by  natives.  By  the  side  of  these  there 
should  be  gradually  introduced  a  kind  of  general 
armament,  after  the  'pattern  of  the  Sipahi  or  the 
Austrian  military  frontier.  This  last  system  is  so 
admirably  suited  for  a  rising  colony,  that  it  is  incon- 
ceivable why  in  Algiers  all  other  means,  even  the 
Chinese  wall  round  the  Metija,  were  proposed  rather 
than  this.  The  fleet  would  consist  simply  of  a  few 
corvettes  to  protect  the  commerce  against  the  pirates 
of  the  Mediterranean.  Provided  with  such  means  of 
defence,  the  country  Avonld  be  safe  from  the  neighbour- 
ing tribes  of  Arabs,  as  well  as  from  Turkish  and 
Egyptian  encroachments.  In  case  of  a  more  serious 
danger,  the  protecting  powers  would  have  to  intervene. 
Internal  administration  would  provide  government 
with  the  largest  field  for  its  activities  in  a  country 
like  this,  where  everything  has  still  to  be  created,  but 
where  all  requisite  materials  are  to  be  found  in  such 

t  2 


276  The  Eastern  Question. 

abundance.  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  attracting 
settlers  and  capitalists  to  this  rich  soil,  to  live  under 
this  bright  sky,  as  soon  as  they  saw  that  they  would 
find  protection  for  their  property  and  persons,  security 
for  their  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises,  im- 
partial justice  and  complete  religious  toleration.  The 
influence  of  such  model  government  amongst  nations, 
which  have  hitherto  had  only  extortioners  for  their 
rulers,  would  be  immense.  Palestine  would  be  a  Avail 
of  protection  for  Syria  against  Egypt,  and  if  the  latter 
should  ever  be  governed  by  any  other  hereditary 
dynasty  than  the  Ottoman  it  would  afford  the  best 
security  against  Turkish  aggression.  As  Palestine  is 
situated  on  the  direct  route  of  communication  between 
India  and  Europe,  the  ports  along  the  coast  and  the 
highways  through  the  country  would  be  filled  with 
the  treasures  of  two  continents,  and,  by  the  deliverance 
of 'the  Holy  Sepulchre,  Christian  Europe  would  obtain 
a  satisfaction  which  has  been  withheld  from  her  for 
generations. 

We  candidly  confess  our  belief  in  the  idea,  on  which 
so  much  ridicule  has  been  cast,  of  a  general  European 
peace.  Not  that  long  and  bloody  wars  are  to  cease 
from  henceforth,  our  armies  be  disbanded,  and  our 
cannon  recast  into  nails ;  that  is  too  much  to  expect, 
but  is  not  the  whole  course  of  the  world's  history  an 
approximation  to  such  a  peace  ?  When  we  look  back 
to  the  earliest  ages,  do  we  not  see  the  hand  of  everyone 
raised  against  his  neighbour  ?  And  even  in  the  middle 
ages,  did  not  knights  and  barons,  castles  and  towns 
continue  to  fight  with  each  other  till  stopped  by  the 
princes,  who  claimed  the  monopoly  of  war  for  them- 
selves ?  And  to-day  !  Is  a  Spanish  war  of  succession, 
or  a  war  "  pour  les  beaux  yeux  de  Madame,"  possible 
in  our  times  ? 

Would  Holland  be  allowed  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
Europe  for  the  sake  of  a  province,  Naples  for  the 
monopoly  of  sulphur,    Portugal  for  the  navigation  of 


The  Eastern  Question.  277 

the  Douro  ?  It  is  for  a  very  small  number  of  powers 
that  the  possibility  of  setting  the  world  ablaze  is 
reserved.  Wars  will  become  rarer  and  rarer  because 
they  are  growing  expensive  beyond  measure  ;  positively 
because  of  the  actual  cost,  negatively  because  of  the 
necessary  neglect  of  work.  Has  not  the  population  of 
Prussia,  under  a  good  and  wise  administration,  in- 
creased by  a  fourth  in  twenty-five  years  of  peace  ?  and 
are  not  her  fifteen  millions  of  inhabitants  better  fed, 
clothed,  and  instructed  to-day  than  her  eleven  millions 
used  to  be  ?  Are  not  such  results  equal  to  a  victorious 
campaign  or  to  the  conquest  of  a  province,  with  this 
great  difference,  that  they  were  not  gained  at  the 
expense  of  other  nations,  nor  with  the  sacrifice  of  the 
enormous  number  of  victims  that  a  war  demands  ? 
and  is  there  any  European  country  that  has  not  made 
similar  conquests,  though  in  most  cases  they  have  been 
on  a  smaller  scale  ?  When  we  consider  the  milliards 
which  Europe  has  to  spend  every  year  on  her  military 
budget,  the  millions  of  men  in  the  prime  of  life  who 
are  called  away  from  their  business  in  order  to  be 
trained  for  a  possible  war,  it  is  not  hard  to  see  how 
these  immense  powers  might  be  utilized  and  made 
more  and  more  productive.  May  we  not  hope  that 
Europe  will,  in  the  course  perhaps  of  decades,  perhaps 
of  centuries,  agree  upon  a  mutual  disarmament,  and 
show  us  the  reverse  of  the  picture  presented  to  us  to- 
day by  France,  who  wishes  to  sell  her  coat  for  a  suit  of 
armour  ? 

It  has  been  said  that  with  the  cessation  of  war,  men 
would  lose  their  moral  energy  and  unlearn  the  virtue 
of  sacrificing  their  lives  for  an  idea,  whether  honour, 
loyalty,  glory,  patriotism,  or  religion.  This  fear  may 
not  be  altogether  without  foundation,  and  the  rarer 
war  becomes  in  Europe,  the  more  necessary  will  it  be 
to  find  a  field  of  activity  for  the  surplus  energy  of  the 
rising  generation.  England  has  found  in  every  conti- 
nent  and  on  every  ocean  scenes  of  action,  where  the 


278  The  Eastern  Question. 

younger  sons  of  her  nobility  are  provided  for,  where 
the  martial  courage  of  her  youths  is  tried,  where  new 
channels  are  opened  to  her  commerce  and  new  markets 
for  her  industry.  France  has  sought  an  outlet  for  the 
often  morbid  excess  of  her  energy  in  Algiers,  and  if  her 
attempts  at  colonization  have  so  far  met  with  little 
success,  we  wish  her  endeavours  the  best  results  in  the 
interest  of  civilization.  But  should  not  Germany 
gladly  seize  the  opportunity  of  extending  German 
civilization  and  energy,  industry  and  honesty  beyond 
the  German  frontier,  when  such  an  opportunity  pre- 
sents itself? 


THE  COUNTRY  AND  PEOPLE  OF  THE 
KURDS. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  the  denouement  of  the 
tragedy  in  the  East  will  be  surprised  to  hear  a  report 
of  new  risings  in  Kurdistan,  at  the  moment  when 
everybody  believed  the  affairs  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
settled  by  the  interference  of  the  four  great  European 
powers.  And  yet  the  insurrection  is  only  a  consequence 
of  this  interference.  With  the  battle  of  Nisib  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Padishah  over  the  newly  defeated 
Kurds,  who,  however,  were  never  completely  subdued, 
had  ceased.  We  felt  that  we  had  no  power  over 
the  mountain  tribes,  and  so  they  were  left  alone.  But 
now  that  English  and  Austrian  cannon  have  left  the 
Porte  free  to  act,  she  demands  as  before  taxes  and  the 
corvee,  money  and  recruits,  and  thus  causes  the  insur- 
rection which  must  come  before  long  even  if  it  has  not 
broken  out  already.  The  phenomenon  reminds  us  of  a 
mighty  stream  which  flows  onwards  with  unruffled 
surface,  until  it  is  opposed  by  rocks,  when  it  reveals  for 
the  first  time,  by  the  surging  and  roaring  of  its  waters, 


The  Eastern  Question.  279 

the  force  with  which  it  moves.  The  province  had 
already  renounced  its  allegiance,  and  the  first  attempt 
to  recover  it  called  forth  open  insurrection.  In  giving 
a  short  sketch  of  the  people  and  the  country  which  at 
the  present  moment  may  well  attract  the  eyes  of  all 
Europe,  we  will  not  begin  with  Xenophon,  but  simply 
mention  that  the  "  Karduches  "  are  to  this  day  the 
terror  of  all  intruders,  and  that  they  still  construct 
those  houses  with  little  towers  of  which  the  Greek 
general  tells  us  ;  we  will  not  vainly  attempt  to  clear  up 
the  long  and  dark  history  of  this  people,  nor  stay  to 
inquire  whether  they  are  a  tribe  of  Tartar  immigrants, 
or  the  descendants  of  the  old  Medes  and  Chalclamns 
whose  language  is  preserved  in  the  Bibles  of  those 
villages  on  the  Persian  frontier  which  have  remained 
Christian.  We  wish  rather  to  describe  the  Kurds  and 
their  home,  as  they  appear  to-day  to  observers,  who 
had  an  opportunity  of  spending  some  time  amongst 
them,  travellers  who,  ignorant  of  the  language,  and 
surrounded  by  a  thousand  dangers,  real  and  imaginary, 
hurried  over  these  mountains  by  the  perilous  passes  of 
Bitlis  and  Djinlamerik. 

If  any  nation  is  bound  to  the  soil,  it  is  the 
Kurds.  Heirs  of  an  ancient  agriculture,  they  live  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Armenian  table-land,  shunning  the 
plains  where  the  brooks  of  their  native  mountains  are 
dried  up,  and  though  the  winters  are  severe,  they  enjoy 
long  and  beautiful  summers.  Among  them  are  a  few 
wandering  shepherds,  but  for  the  most  part  they  are 
an  essentially  agricultural  people,  to  this  extent 
nomadic  that  when  the  heat  in  the  valleys  becomes  op- 
pressive and  the  rays  of  the  sun  free  the  mountain 
pastures  from  the  snow,  they  drive  their  herds  a  step 
higher,  for  a  time  exchanging  their  houses  for  tents  of 
black  goat-hair. 

Quite  in  accordance  with  this  manner  of  life  is  the 
fact  that  in  the  district  inhabited  by  them  we  find 
nothing  but  villages,  detached  farms  are  nowhere  to  be 


280  The  Eastern  Question. 

seen,  nor  yet  towns  of  any  size.  The  latter  are  not  in 
Kurdistan  but  round  it.  If  a  line  be  drawn  from 
Diarbekir,  cutting  through  Mardin,  Nisibin,  Djesereh- 
Ibn-Omer,  Van,  Mush,  Paluh,  Derindeh,  Maresh  and 
Andiaman,  it  will  encircle  Kurdistan  proper,  in  the  in- 
terior of  which  only  very  small  towns  such  as  Tacho, 
Bitlis,  Soort,  Hassu-Keffa,  Thiro,  Portek,  Troglu,  etc., 
are  to  be  found.  The  population  of  these  is  principally 
Kurdish,  and  it  is  only  in  the  plains  of  Karput  and 
Malatia  that  we  find  the  two  towns  with  these  names, 
places  of  importance,  it  is  true,  but  decidedly  not 
Kurdish.  In  all  these  towns  there  is  a  wonderful 
mixture  of  nations,  languages  and  religions.  The 
Christians,  the  older  part  of  the  population,  are  the  de- 
scendants of  the  ancient  Assyrians  and  Chaldeans, 
mixed  with  Armenians  who  immigrated  at  a  later 
period.  The  former  are  for  the  greater  part  Jacobites 
and  Nestorians,  who  are  sharply  divided  by  the  differ- 
ence of  their  opinions  ;  the  latter,  with  the  exception  of 
some  proselytes  gained  by  the  Propaganda  at  Rome 
and  St.  Lazaro  of  Venice,  belong  to  the  Greek  Church. 
These  Christians  intermarried  with  the  neighbouring 
Kurds,  and  over  the  population  thus  formed  passed  the 
wave  of  Saracens  which  the  Crusaders  were  here  com- 
pelled to  resist,  leaving  a  sediment  everywhere  behind 
it  of  greater  or  less  amount.  Finally  the  Turks 
obtained  the  supremacy,  and  the  Jews,  who  are  distri- 
buted over  the  world  as  universally  as  iron,  are  not 
wanting. 

In  the  south  the  home  of  the  Kurds  is  sharply 
bounded  by  the  mountains.  Beyond  their  range  the 
Arab  villages  cease  ;  agriculture  is  unknown,  and  it  is 
only  in  a  few  walled  towns  that  the  inhabitants  are  safe 
from  Arab  raids.  The  Kurds  who  inhabit  the  Sindshar 
mountains  form  an  isolated  outpost,  this  mountain 
chain  rises  steep  and  wall-like  from  the  immense  steppe 
of  Mesopotamia.  In  the  north  and  east,  however,  the 
Kurds  are  mixed  with  the  Armenians,  and  it  is  only  in 


The  Eastern  Question.  281 

the  wooded  mountains  north  of  Pain,  which  attain  a 
great  height  and  are  almost  inaccessible,  that  they 
possess  an  exclusive  domain,  into  which  neither  the 
Turkish  army  nor  the  inquisitive  traveller  has  ever 
penetrated.  The  subjugation  of  this  last  refuge  of 
Kurdish  independence  had  been  planned  by  Hafiz 
Pasha,1  when  the  Egyptian  war  broke  out.  This 
district,  therefore,  remained  closed  to  European  ex- 
ploration, and  will  very  likely  remain  so  for  a  long- 
time to  come. 

Within  the  limits  we  have  indicated,  the  Kurds 
inhabit  the  zone  which  extends  from  the  region  of  the 
fir-tree  and  the  Palamut  oak  down  to  that  of  the  olive 
and  pomegranate,  from  the  steep  rocks  and  snow- 
covered  peaks  whence  the  streams  gush  noisily  forth, 
down  to  the  valleys  and  rice-fields,  through  which  the 
same  streams  flow  with  gentle  windings.  Agriculture 
is  limited  to  this  zone,  for  the  peaks  above  are  covered 
with  snow  and  masses  of  ice,  even  when  the  sun  has 
scorched  up  all  the  vegetation  in  the  treeless  steppes 
below. 

The  Kurdish  villages  afford  a  pleasant  prospect.  As 
the  traveller  approaches  them,  he  beholds,  while  still 
far  off,  groups  of  walnut-trees,  under  whose  shade  the 
houses  lie  hidden.  Near  the  spring  or  brook,  which  is 
never  absent,  there  stands,  as  a  rule,  a  plantation  of 
poplars,  which  are  indispensable  for  the  building  of  the 
cottages.  As  they  are  well  watered,  and  exposed  to  the 
life-giving  heat  of  the  sun,  these  trees  reach  an  extra- 
ordinary height  in  an  incredibly  short  time ;  they 
grow  as  thickly  as  the  blades  in  a  corn-field,  and 
the  trunks  are  slim  and  straight  like  reeds.  The 
villages  are  surrounded  by  vineyards,  olive  plantations, 
gardens,  or  cornfields,  according  to  the  altitude,  but 
only  very  few  of  them  can  boast  of  a  minaret,  which  the 

1  Hafiz  Pasha  was  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  Army  in 
Syria  in  1838  and  1839  ;  hedost  the  battle  of  Nisib. 


282  The  Eastern  Question. 

smallest  Turkish  villages  possess.  The  outer  walls  of 
their  dwelling-houses  are  built  of  a  kind  of  air-dried 
brick,  which  is  made  of  clay  and  crushed  straw  without 
any  wood ;  instead  of  windows,  there  are  only  a  few 
narrow  openings,  which  are  placed  rather  high,  and  are 
not  closed,  as  neither  glass  nor  paper  is  known  in  these 
districts.  The  entrance  is  guarded  by  a  strong  oaken 
door.  The  ceiling  is  made  of  a  layer  of  poplars  placed 
at  intervals  of  nine  inches ;  over  these  branches  are 
laid,  and  the  whole  is  covered  with  clay  and  gravel  to 
a  thickness  of  about  one  or  one  and  a  half  feet.  This 
platform  is  used  by  the  family  as  a  sleeping-place 
during  the  summer,  and  is  often  surrounded  by  a 
parapet  about  four  feet  high.  The  houses  of  the 
wealthier  people  have  two  storeys,  and  are  sometimes 
built  of  stone  ;  they  are  generally  provided  on  one  side 
with  a  square  tower.  Everything  is  arranged  with  a 
view  to  defence  in  their  intestine  feuds. 

Besides  the  small  apartments  where  the  women  are 
kept  in  the  strictest  seclusion,  there  is,  in  the  interior,  a 
larger  room,  which  is  the  same  as  the  selamlik  of  the 
Turks.  At  the  upper  end  is  the  fire-place  or  hearth, 
on  a  level  with  the  floor  ;  on  both  sides  is  a  low 
divan  with  cushions,  and  the  Avealthier  people  have  a 
carpet  on  the  floor.  This  is  all  the  furniture  that  the 
room  contains. 

The  paths  which  connect  the  different  villages  are 
most  precipitous,  and  cannot  be  passed  even  on  mules 
without  risk ;  to  the  unaccustomed  rider  the  effect  is 
appalling.  Each  community  keeps  to  itself,  and  neither 
needs  nor  desires  intercourse  with  the  others.  The 
principal  occupation  of  the  women  is  weaving  the 
cotton  and  mixed  silks,  the  red  and  black  striped 
materials  for  the  wide  trowsers,  the  black  mantles  of 
goat-hair,  which,  together  with  sandals  and  white 
felt  caps,  compose  the  dress  of  the  men.  With  the 
aid  of  a  few  sticks  set  upright  in  the  ground,  they 
weave  the  beautiful  and  durable  carpets  which  are  the 


The  Eastern   Question.  283 

chief  luxury  of  their  homes.  The  men  till  the  fields, 
tend  their  flocks,  and  smoke,  or  go  out  to  fight. 

It  would  be  very  difficult  to  give  even  an  approxi- 
mate idea  of  the  number  of  the  Kurds  ;  in  any  case  it 
exceeds  half  a  million.  The  greater  number  are 
Moslems ;  on  the  Persian  frontier  there  are  Christian 
Kurds,  and  on  the  Sindshar  and  the  Southern  bound- 
ary live  the  Yezids,  whom  the  Turks  believe  to  be 
devil- worshippers,  and  who  are,  therefore,  allowed  to  be 
sold  as  slaves.  The  Armenians,  who  live  amongst  them 
in  considerable  numbers,  are  all  Christians  of  the  Greek 
Church.  All  Kurds  have  a  certain  national  likeness. 
Their  skin  is  not  any  darker  than  that  of  their  neigh- 
bours the  Turkomans  and  Armenians ;  they  are 
generally  tall  and  stalwart,  their  noses  are  aquiline,  but 
their  eyes  are  set  very  close  together,  which  sometimes 
gives  them  the  appearance  of  squinting. 

They  show  great  dexterity  and  practical  knowledge 
in  the  works  they  construct  for  purposes  of  irrigation. 
Without  the  use  of  any  levelling  instruments  they  con- 
duct the  water  from  the  springs  and  streams  for  leagues 
along  the  mountain  sides  to  the  point  where  they  are 
in  need  of  the  element  which  is  here  indispensable  for 
all  vegetation.  The  mountain  slopes  are  often  cut  into 
terraces  up  to  an  astonishing  height,  just  as  in  our  best 
cultivated  vine  districts,  in  order  to  gain  a  few  feet  of 
productive  soil.  Plantations,  fields,  and  aqueducts  are 
the  principal  features  of  Kurdish  agriculture. 

Such  is  the  home  and  the  climate  to  which  this 
race  is  so  deeply  attached.  When,  in  the  year  1838, 
Hafiz  Pasha  had  driven  the  inhabitants  of  Karsann- 
Dagh  with  fire  and  sword  into  their  highest  and  most 
inaccessible  hiding-places,  and  when,  now  that  they 
were  surrounded  on  all  sides,  fcod  began  to  be  scarce, 
a  deputation  of  their  elders  appeared  before  the  tent  of 
the  conqueror  to  implore  his  pity.  The  Pasha  knew  of 
no  better  means  of  transforming  these  people  into 
faithful  subjects  of  the  Porte  than  that  of  transplanting 


284  The  Eastern  Question. 

tliem  from  their  inaccessible  mountains  into  the  plain. 
There  he  promised  them  ten  times  the  property  they 
possessed  at  their  homes  (on  such  occasions  his  gene- 
rosity knew  no  bounds),  freedom  from  all  taxes  and 
military  service  for  three  years,  and  pointed  out  to 
them  in  bright  colours  the  riches  which  they  would  be 
able  to  gain  by  the  cultivation  of  the  silkworm  and  by 
horse-breeding,  instead  of  mulberry-picking  and  sheep- 
rearing.  But  one  might  as  well  offer  to  build  a  nest 
for  a  fish.  Mournfully  the  old  men  looked  up  to  heaven, 
j)romising  everything  they  were  asked ;  they  then  re- 
turned to  their  families,  loaded  with  presents,  and  re- 
ported how  they  had  been  received.  Thereupon  women 
and  children  took  up  arms,  the  skirmishes  were  renewed, 
and  did  not  end  till  the  insurgents  were  entirely  defeated : 
but  the  project  of  a  colonization  in  the  plain  had  to  be 
abandoned. 

Kurdistan  is  an  aggregate  of  single  communities 
without  any  bond  of  union.  Sometimes,  but  very 
rarely,  an  old  castle  may  be  seen,  perched  on  a  lofty 
and  inaccessible  mountain-top,  or  hedged  in  between 
perpendicular  walls  of  rock.  These  castles  are  used  by 
some  of  the  Beys,  not  as  residences,  but  as  places  of 
refuge  in  times  of  danger.  None  of  these  small  princes 
exercise  permanent  authority  over  any  great  part  of 
the  country,  and  it  is  only  in  times  of  danger  and 
distress  that  men  like  Revandus  Bey,  Vedehan  Bey, 
and  Sayd  Bey  have  been  able  to  gather  any  consider- 
able body  of  their  countrymen  round  their  standards. 
But,  even  then,  these  armies  melted  away  in  a  very 
short  time,  and  each  soldier  refused  to  defend  more 
than  his  own  hearth.  This  is  where  the  weakness  of 
the  people  lies.  They  would  be  unconquerable  if  they 
were  united,  but  none  of  them  have  ever  attempted  to 
lend  a  helping  hand  to  their  neighbours,  and  while 
Reshid  and  Hafiz  Pasha  were  invading  one  district, 
the  others  rejoiced  in  their  temporary  safety  till  it  was 
their  turn. 


The  Eastern  Question.  285 

From  the  Arabs,  who  present  a  complete  contrast  to 
this  people,  the  Kurds  have  been  protected  by  a 
natural  frontier  since  their  last  settlements  in  the  plain 
were  destroyed  by  troops  of  horsemen  from  the 
desert.  The  Arabian  lion  cannot  harm  the  Kurdish 
falcon  in  these  mountain  clefts,  and  on  the  other  hand, 
the  latter  is  powerless  against  the  former,  so  long  as  he 
remains  in  his  own  element. 

Persia  would  be  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  the 
Kurds  on  account  of  her  nearness,  if  she  had  not  sunk 
into  total  impotence.  They  did  succumb  to  the 
Pashas  of  Bagdad  and  Diarbekir,  but  principally  be- 
cause at  that  time  a  large  army  of  50,000  men  could  be 
employed  against  them,  which  the  Padishah  was  ob- 
liged to  maintain  in  that  remote  region  for  quite  a 
different  purpose,  that  is,  to  keej)  a  watch  on  Ibrahim. 
The  Porte  herself  knows  best  what  sacrifices  of  men, 
money,  and  material  are  required  in  order  to  occupy 
Kurdistan  for  the  space  of  a  few  years.  She  was, 
however,  compelled  to  make  these  sacrifices,  as  without 
the  help  of  Kurdistan  it  would  have  been  impossible 
for  her  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  "  status  quo  "  for 
seven  years.  Her  artillery,  which  was  conveyed  into 
these  mountain  valleys  with  immense  exertion  by 
camels  or  by  human  labour,  provided  her  with  a 
weapon  far  superior  to  anything  which  the  Kurds 
could  bring  against  it,  and  yet  castles  with  garrisons 
of  from  forty  to  eighty  men  resisted  all  their  attempts 
for  thirty- two  and  even  forty  days. 

Meanwhile  famine  and  disease  made  dreadful  havoc 
among  the  besiegers,  and  if  Hafiz  Pasha's  last  expedi- 
tion came  speedily  to  an  end,  it  was  principally  owing 
to  the  fact  that  Kurds  were  fighting  against  Kurds. 
The  same  men  who  had  fought  so  badly  in  the  plain, 
under  the  Turkish  flag,  were  now  seen  storming  in- 
trenched caverns,  villages,  and  strongholds,  or  defend- 
ing them  with  the  utmost  daring.  The  love  of  plunder 
and  the  love  of  home  were  powerful  motives  on  one 


286  The  Eastern  Question. 

of   these    occasions,    but    on    the    other    they    were 
absent. 

The  nature  of  the  soil  seldom  permits  the  Kurds  to 
fight  on  horseback.  Their  cavalry,  who  ride  excellent 
horses,  are  generally  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  or 
with  long  lances  of  bamboo,  the  upper  ends  of  which 
are  ornamented  with  thick  pads  of  ostrich  feathers  ;  for 
defence  they  still  carry  their  little  round  shells  of  wicker- 
work  covered  with  skins.  But  the  long  gun  which  the 
foot  soldiers  carry,  with  its  Persian  barrels  of  damas- 
keened iron,  still  often  provided  with  a  matchlock,  is  a 
terrible  weapon  in  so  perilous  and  difficult  a  country. 
All  this  shows  that  there  is  a  strong  defensive  element 
in  the  Kurdish  nation,  and  one  must  not  imagine  for 
a  moment  that  the  Russians  would  not  meet  with  an 
extremely  obstinate  resistance,  if  they  ever  attempted 
the  conquest  of  this  country.  Here  they  would  find 
the  same  fanaticism  and  the  same  difficult  mountain 
warfare,  so  uncongenial  to  the  Russian  soldier,  that 
they  have  been  compelled  to  face  in  the  Caucasus, 
where,  spite  of  the  sea  and  the  nearness  of  the  country 
to  their  own,  their  efforts  have  hitherto  been  in  vain. 

But  the  same  considerations  show  that  the  Kurds  are 
not  much  to  be  feared  when  they  assume  the  offensive. 
The  large  towns  outside  their  territory  are  perhaps  a 
temptation  to  them,  but  though  they  may  plunder 
them  now  and  then,  they  do  not  care  to  possess  them 
or  shut  themselves  up  within  those  walls,  which  glow 
with  the  heat  of  the  sun.  In  particular  Mossul  and 
Bagdad  lie  quite  out  of  the  sphere  of  their  operations. 
Nor  are  we  inclined  to  regard  their  latest  insurrection 
as  a  matter  vitally  affecting  the  continuance  of  the 
Turkish  Empire.  Kurdistan  has  never  been  assimilated 
into  it,  but  has  only  been  for  a  time  mechanically 
mixed  with  the  other  provinces.  In  its  present  condi- 
tion it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  corroding  cancer,  but 
as  a  dissevered  member  of  that  great  political  body  of 
which  so  many  limbs  have  already  perished.     It  is  also 


The  Eastern  Question.  287 

quite  possible  that  the  Turkish  army  now  available  for 
use  in  Asia  may,  by  once  more  marching  through 
these  lovely  valleys,  burning  the  villages  and  trampling 
down  the  crops,  force  a  few  Kurdish  districts  into  re- 
newed obedience  to  the  Padishah.  But  the  fact,  that 
it  would  be  necessary  to  repeat  the  same. bloody  work 
again  and  again,  and  that  every  levy  of  recruits  or 
collection  of  taxes  would  demand  a  similar  display  of 
power,  suggests  serious  considerations  as  to  the  state 
of  the  Empire,  which  Europe  is  at  present  so  interested 
in  preserving  by  her  fleets  and  her  armies. 


THE   MILITARY  AND  POLITICAL   SITUATION 
OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE. 

Those  who  follow  the  development  of  events  in  the 
East  with  any  attention,  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the 
Turkish  Empire  is  rushing  more  and  more  rapidly  down 
the  steep  road  to  ruin.  Since  Navarino  and  Adrianople 
the  Padishah  has  fought  no  battles  against  other  than 
his  own  subjects.  The  nations  who  had  been  hostile  to 
him  for  hundreds  of  years,  suddenly  became  as  many 
friends  and,  before  long,  protectors.  Help  and  advice 
were  pressed  on  him  from  all  quarters,  more 
liberally  as  it  seemed  to  him,  than  his  case  required, 
and  each  interposition  in  his  favour  left  him  weaker 
than  he  had  been  when  confronted  by  the  danger  from 
which  such  interposition  had  been  intended  to  deliver 
him.  And  now  that  the  English  and  Austrian  cannon 
have  helped  him  to  regain  the  long  coveted  prize  "I 
Syria,  the  vast  stage  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  presents 
us  once  more  with  the  spectacle  of  discontent  and 
mutiny  on  the  one  side,  of  confusion  and  weakness  on 
the  other. 


288  The  Eastern  Question. 

We  read  in  the  newspapers  that  the  insurrection 
in  Bulgaria  is  put  down.  Hussein,  the  Pasha  of 
Widdin,  the  destroyer  of  the  Janissaries,  a  gouty  old 
man,  almost  ninety  years  old,  has  succeeded  in  pacify- 
ing the  country.  The  old  cut-throat  has  let  loose  his 
Arnauts  against  the  discontented  Rajahs.  His  greedy 
hirelings  swoop  down  upon  the  ill-armed  hosts  of  Bul- 
garian Christians,  burn  their  villages  and  crops,  drag 
women  and  children  into  captivity,  and  drive  the  rem- 
nant which  escapes  slaughter  into  the  mountains,  where 
the  men  who  have  been  thus  abandoned  to  hunger  and 
misery,  form  themselves  in  their  turn  into  bands  of 
robbers.  By  this  means  the  difficulty  is  postponed,  the 
only  method,  it  would  appear,  by  which  questions 
affecting  Turkey  can  at  present  be  solved. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  in  our  survey  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  we  ought  to  include  those  principalities  in 
which  no  Turk  is  any  longer  allowed  to  live,  and  where 
the  Turkish  Government  cannot  convey  its  orders 
without  sending  its  Tartars  on  board  Austrian  vessels, 
and  allowing  them  to  be  put  up  in  quarantine  for  a 
fortnight.  Meanwhile  we  see  one  royal  chamberlain 
after  another  arrive  in  Servia,  and  none  of  them  is  able 
to  put  an  end  to  the  confusion  there.  Old  Milosh 
Obrenovitch  watches  events  from  across  the  Danube, 
as  if  thinking  that  a  time  will  come  when  he  will  be 
able  to  rejoin  his  old  companions  in  arms,  remind  them 
of  the  glorious  fight  of  their  younger  days,  and  free  his 
country  for  ever  from  the  Moslems. 

The  provinces  of  Albania  and  Bosnia  from  which 
the  Porte  drew,  or  rather  bought  by  the  offer  of  high 
pay  the  means  of  pacifying  Bulgaria,  are  in  a  state 
which  is  far  from  satisfactory.  Yet  it  is  thought  at 
Stamboul  that  fortune  has  been  specially  propitious 
whenever  the  Divan  succeeds  temporarily  in  making  its 
power  felt  among  these  mountains.  Ali  Pasha  of 
Zanina  is  no  more,  and  if  things  came  to  the  worst,  the 
Austrian  frontier  soldiers  would  restore  order,  however 


The  Eastern  Question.  289 

much  they  might  dislike  meddling  with  the  affairs  of  a 
foreign  country. 

Graver  faces  will  be  seen  at  Pasha  Kapussi  when 
the  determined  attitude  of  the  "  Romans  "  inThessaly 
is  discussed.  The  formation  of  an  independent  king- 
dom out  of  a  territory  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  inhabited 
by  Greek  Rajahs,  was  a  greater  grievance  to  the  Porte 
and  a  more  bitter  personal  affront  to  Sultan  Mahmoud 
than  all  the  other  losses.  This  fact,  and  the  obvious 
example  of  a  state  whose  progress  in  spite  of  all 
difficulties  is  undeniable,  while  under  the  administration 
of  the  Pashas  everything  retrogrades,  can  hardly  be  lost 
upon  the  neighbouring  Greek  Christian  population  of 
Thessaly.  There  is  no  need  to  stimulate  the  fermenta- 
tion from  outside  ;  the  principal  seat  of  the  intrigues 
is  to  be  looked  for  on  Mount  Athos,  which  is  almost 
exclusively  inhabited  by  monks,  and  the  whole  question 
becomes  all  the  more  critical,  the  more  it  assumes  a 
religious  complexion. 

Discontent  has  asserted  itself  much  more  openly  in 
Crete,  which  is  ablaze  with  the  lurid  names  of  insurrec- 
tion. Among  her  highest  officials,  the  Porte  possesses 
but  a  very  small  number  of  men  of  proved  efficiency, 
for  those  nonentities  who  continually  succeed  each 
other  in  the  Seraskeriat,  and  who  are  in  turns  Ministers 
of  Marine,  are  entirely  out  of  the  question  when  im- 
portant commissions  are  to  be  assigned.  One  of  these 
few  is  Tahir  Pasha,  an  orthodox  Turk,  with  an  iron 
will  endowed  with  many-sided  knowledge,  and  practical 
utility,  but  hard,  cruel,  and  full  of  hatred  against  the 
Christians  and  the  European  Cabinets,  whom  he  has 
never  forgiven  the  day  of  Navarino.  This  man  is 
charged  with  the  pacification  of  the  island.  Though 
the  result  of  his  enterprise  can  by  no  means  be  fore- 
seen with  any  certainty,  it  is  probable  that  he  will 
drive  the  rebels  from  the  field  with  his  artillery,  against 
which  they  have  nothing  to  oppose,  and  that  he  will 
restore  Turkish  rule  in  the  towns.     But  that  he  will 

vol.  1.  u 


290  The  Eastern  Question. 

penetrate  into  the  mountains  and  repeat  the  scenes  of 
Karsann-Dagh,1  we  may  be  permitted  to  doubt.  Here 
again  we  see  an  indefinite  adjournment  of  the  situation. 

Nothing  has  been  heard  lately  of  the  disturbances  in 
Kurdistan,  but  without  doubt  only  because  the  Porte 
allows  matters  to  take  their  own  course.  But  as  soon 
as  Turkey  finds  herself  compelled,  in  her  hour  of  need, 
to  enforce  her  claim  to  draw  upon  the  resources  of  this 
province,  a  reaction  will  certainly  set  in,  and  the  news- 
j3apers  will  once  more  report  disturbances  in  the  Taurus 
and  in  Mesopotamia. 

Whereas  in  a  former  article  the  opinion  was  ex- 
pressed that  the  Turks  would  hardly  be  able  to  retain 
the  recovered  province  of  Syria  longer  than  a  year,  this 
prediction  seems  likely  to  be  fulfilled  in  a  still  shorter 
period.  In  Syria  there  is  only  one  real  and  permanent 
power,  that  of  the  Emir  Beshir,  who  has  shown  his  rare 
sagacity  by  allying  himself  with  the  Egyptians  against 
the  Turks,  and  with  the  Turks  against  the  Egyptians, 
and  it  is  very  possible  that  this  Emir,  or  the  heir  of  his 
policy,  may  look  down  from  his  mountains  upon  more 
than  one  change  in  the  plain.  But  it  is  very  proble- 
matical what  increase  of  power  the  Porte  would  gain 
from  the  renewed  possession  of  the  rich  coast  where  the 
greater  part  of  her  available  forces  would  be  as  en- 
tirely absorbed  after  as  before  the  conquest.  The 
memory  of  so  many  thousands  of  the  noblest  men  of 
Germany,  France  and  Italy,  of  so  many  millions  of 
devout  Christians,  who  willingly  sacrificed  their  pro- 
perty and  their  lives  in  order  that  they  might  set  foot 
on  the  consecrated  soil  of  Palestine,  drink  from  the 
waters  of  Jordan  and  behold  the  holy  city — all  this  has 
hitherto  counted  in  the  calculations  of  the  European 
Cabinets  as  so  much  empty  moonshine.  Jerusalem  and 
the  grave  of  the  Redeemer,  Syria  and  the  fate  of  the 
Christian  population  have  been  once  more  abandoned 

1  Compare  p.  283. 


The  Eastern   Question.  291 

to  the  Infidels,  and  the  reins  of  government  placed  in 
trembling  hands,  from  which  they  threaten  to  fall  again 
every  moment.  Meanwhile  there  is  time  to  reconsider 
the  matter,  for  we  may  depend  upon  it,  that  before 
long  Syria  will  be  for  the  second  time  as  much  at  our 
disposal  as  it  was  after  the  victory  of  Acre. 

While  the  Anglo- Austrian  victories  have  been  far 
from  giving  back  to  Christianity  her  holy  places,  the 
heir  of  the  Califs  is  just  as  far  from  regaining  his  by 
them.  At  present  Arabia  obeys  neither  the  Pasha  nor 
the  Padishah  ;  new  prophets  arise  there  and,  according 
as  they  belong  to  the  fanatical  or  to  the  Puritanical 
sect,  prophesy  the  fall  or  the  purification  of  Islam,  but 
all  equally  reject  the  authority  of  the  Sultan. 

Egypt  is  more  independent  after  her  defeats,  than 
she  ever  was  before.  Though  deprived  of  one  part 
of  his  possessions,  Mehmed  Ali  has  obtained  in  re- 
spect of  his  diminished  territory  the  recognition  and, 
to  a  certain  extent,  the  guarantee  of  the  European 
powers.  One  claim  of  the  usurper,  to  which  Sultan 
Mahmoud  would  never  have  dreamt  of  assenting,  that 
his  authority  should  be  hereditary  in  his  family,  has 
been  allowed  by  Mahmoud's  son.  The  tribute  has 
been  lightened,  and  to  the  order  for  the  reduction  of 
his  army,  the  old  Pasha  has  replied  with  all  humility 
and  submission  by  new  levies  of  troops.  Though  far 
from  believing  in  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  regular 
troops  and  national  guards,  or  in  the  possibility  of  re- 
conquering Syria  with  this  rabble,  we  yet  cannot  help 
thinking:  that  Mehmed  Ali  will  in  future  be  able  to 

CD 

choose  at  his  pleasure  between  the  friendship  and  pro- 
tection of  France,  England,  and  Russia. 

To  whatever  direction  the  young  Sultan  may  look 
from  his  palace  on  the  Bosphorus,  he  sees  himself  sur- 
rounded by  dissatisfaction,  insubordination  and  revolt. 
Let  us  now  examine  the  means  which  are  at  Iiis 
disposal  for  the  maintenance  of  his  authority  and 
rights. 

u  2 


292  The  Eastern  Question. 

Rescind  Pasha,  without  doubt  the  most  eminent  man 
in  Turkey,  has  been  obliged  to  relinquish  his  office 
as  prime  minister.  This  incident  however  will  trouble 
him  little,  for  he  will  probably  be  soon  recalled  to  his 
old  post,  because  he  is  in  fact  indispensable.  But  this 
man,  who  is  sincerely  anxious  to  benefit  his  country, 
cannot  but  be  pained  to  see  the  most  important  reforms 
which  he  has  introduced  in  the  administration,  rejected 
as  impracticable.  One  of  these  is  the  attempted  separa- 
tion of  the  military  executive  power  from  the  adminis- 
trative power,  and  the  direct  collection  of  taxes  for  the 
exchequer.  This  scheme,  which  would  be  as  advantage- 
ous to  the  tax  payers  as  to  the  Government,  fails  partly 
on  account  of  the  distracted  condition  of  the  provinces, 
in  which  it  is  impossible  to  raise  taxes  without  a  display 
of  power  or  the  intervention  of  the  military  governors, 
and  partly  for  want  of  honest  officials,  an  evil  which  has 
been  in  operation  for  hundreds  of  years.  Throughout 
the  empire  therefore,  a  return  has  been  made  to  the  old 
system,  by  which  the  Government  received  the  amount 
of  the  taxes  from  the  Pashas  in  advance,  and  they  for 
their  part  borrowed  it  from  Armenian  bankers  at 
enormous  rates  of  interest,  and  afterwards  recouped 
themselves  by  the  aid  of  the  military  power  placed  at 
their  disposal.  The  Turkish  translation  of  a  French 
Charte  Gulhane  has  evidently  not  increased  the  moral 
power  of  the  Sultan  and  has  happily  remained  without 
any  consequences.  From  a  philanthropic  point  of 
view  it  is  all  very  well  for  the  descendant  of  Osman, 
Bajazid,  and  Suleiman  to  proclaim  the  equality  of  the 
Rajahs  and  the  Moslems,  but  it  is  absolutely  fatal  to 
Turkish  rule,  which  is  principally  based  upon  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Faithful  over  the  Infidels.  The 
celebrated  Hattischerif  has  drawn  the  attention  of  one 
part  of  the  subjects  of  the  empire  to  the  rights  of 
humanity  they  are  entitled  to  claim,  and  of  another  to 
the  privileges  of  ascendancy  they  are  on  the  point  of 
losing.     This  latter  warning  refers  principally  to  the 


The  Eastern  Question.  293 

Ulemas,  the  most  powerful,  the  best  educated  and  the 
most  influential  class,  and  its  effect  is  to  loosen  the 
only  tie  which  unites  the  Padishah  with  the  different 
nations  of  his  vast  empire  which  are  only  held  together 
by  community  of  faith.  When  that  is  gone  nothing 
remains  but  physical  force,  the  power  of  the  army. 

Since  the  defeat  at  Nisib  the  Porte  has  been  able  to 
do  little  for  the  development  of  her  army.  It  is  only 
in  the  department  of  the  artillery,  no  doubt  the  most 
effective  portion  of  a  modern  Oriental  Army,  that  the 
employment  of  Prussian  officers  and  sergeants  has  led 
to  the  attainment  of  a  perfection  far  in  excess  of  any- 
thing which  at  Constantinople  had  ever  been  thought 
possible.  The  employment  of  Turkish  soldiers  against 
foreign  enemies  has  long  been  out  of  the  question  ;  this 
possibility  is  so  far  from  entering  into  the  calculations 
of  the  divan,  that  even  the  strongholds  on  the  frontier, 
Rustchuk  and  Silistria,  Shumla  and  Varna,  are  without 
any  garrison  of  regular  troops,  and  consequently  the 
country  from  the  banks  of  the  Danube  to  the  Avails  of 
the  capital  is  unprotected.  The  Turkish  Xisam  would 
be  quite  equal  to  putting  down  insurrections  at  home 
wherever  their  numbers  were  sufficient,  and  wherever 
the  nature  of  the  ground  did  not  give  their  opponents 
too  great  an  advantage. 

Yet  the  Government  has  never,  since  the  peace  of 
Adrianople,  been  able  to  raise  a  standing  army  of  more 
than  75,000  men,  without  calling  out  the  Rediffs  or 
militia,  who,  however,  can  only  be  kept  together  for  a 
few  weeks  or  months  if  this  measure  is  not  to  lead  to 
catastrophes  like  the  desertion  of  the  corps  of  Izzet 
Pasha  and  Osman  Pasha  in  the  year  1839.  At  the 
present  moment  the  Porte  has  at  its  command  hardly 
more  than  50,000,  or  at  the  most  60,000,  regulars,  and 
even  this  comparatively  small  number  is  a  great  drain 
upon  the  country.  As  everything  necessary  for  the 
equipment  of  the  troops  must  be  supplied  from  Belgium, 
Austria,  and  England,  this  equipment,  bad  as  it  is,  costs 


294  The  Eastern   Question. 

more  than  double  as  much  as  that  of  any  other  Euro- 
pean army  ;  but  the  greatest  difficulty  is  the  recruit- 
ing. Abundance  of  food,  together  with  deficient 
physical  exercise,  the  crowding  in  the  vast  barracks 
(some  of  which  contain  quarters  for  8000  men),  the 
total  want  of  physicians  and  medicines,  and,  in  addition, 
the  repugnance  of  the  people  to  compulsory  life-long 
service,  produce  a  mortality  amongst  the  soldiers,  of 
which  we  can  form  no  idea.  Plague,  typhus,  dysentery, 
and  desertion  are  continually  thinning  the  Turkish 
lines,  and  we  may  assume  without  exaggeration,  that 
apart  from  skirmishes  and  battles,  the  number  of 
recruits  annually  amounts  to  about  a  fourth  or  a  third 
of  the  total  forces.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
polygamy  causes  decrease  of  population  ;  if  in  addition 
youths  who  have  barely  reached  the  age  of  manhood 
are  dragged  into  the  celibacy  of  military  service,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  what  disproportion  there  must  be 
between  the  Mohammedans  and  the  steadily-increasing 
Rajahs,  especially  the  vigorous  xArmenians.  But  how 
can  50,000  men  suffice  to  repress  the  universal  dis- 
order in  an  empire  Avhich  reaches  from  Bagdad  to 
Belgrade,  from  Ararat  to  Lebanon  ;  and  that,  too,  in 
a  country  where  communication  is  so  difficult,  that 
for  every  movement  of  troops,  a  special  road  must 
be  constructed  ?  Hoav  can  they  possibly  perform 
their  allotted  task  of  presenting  a  firm  front  to 
Egypt  at  the  very  time  that  they  are  expected  to 
restrain  the  turbulent  population  of  Syria  in  their 
rear,  scale  the  mountain  hiding-places  of  the  Kurds, 
pursue  the  flying  Aral)  through  the  desert,  re-conquer 
Crete,  curb  the  seditious  spirit  rampant  in  Thessaly, 
Albania,  Servia,  and  Roumelia,  and,  simultaneously 
with  all  this,  guard  a  capital  of  half  a  million  inhabi- 
tants, upon  whose  tranquillity  and  order  the  existence 
of  the  whole  Empire  depends  ?  There  is  one  remedy 
which  might  help  to  treble  the  Ottoman  forces,  that  is 
the  arming  of  the  Rajahs.     If  the  Porte  had  united  the 


The  Eastern  Question.  295 

interest  of  her  Christian  subjects  with  her  OAvn  by  a 
good  administration,  or,  to  be  just,  if  she  had  been  able 
to  do  so,  this  expedient  would  have  saved  her.  Before 
Nisib  this  measure  was  proposed,  and  might,  with 
precaution,  perhaps  have  been  partially  executed.  As 
things  are  to-day,  it  must  be  owned  that  the  remedy 
would  be  worse  than  the  evil. 

The  reports  concerning  the  young  Sultan's  health 
are  far  from  satisfactory.  None  of  Abdul  Mejid's 
numerous  marriages  has  as  yet  provided  him  with  a 
male  heir,  and  should  he  die  without  one,  the  sole 
remaining  representative  of  the  ancient  house  of  Osman 
would  be  a  boy  fourteen  years  of  age  ;  who,  to  judge 
from  his  appearance,  is  no  stronger  than  his  elder 
brother.  If  anything  were  wanted  to  make  the  dreadful 
confusion  complete,  it  would  be  the  extinction  of  the 
dynasty,  so  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  Moslems,  of  the 
founder  of  their  Empire. 

But  even  apart  from  the  possibility  of  such  an  event, 
the  continuance  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  is  only  con- 
ceivable on  the  condition  of  its  being  contracted  within 
its  natural  boundaries.  In  Europe  these  would  only 
include  Constantinople  and  the  Thracian  Isthmus  with 
Aclrianople  ;  but  in  Asia  the  large  and  rich  district, 
which  is  washed  by  two  seas,  and  which  is  bounded  on 
the  south  by  a  line  which  would  retain  Erzerum,  Mush, 
Malatia,  Kaisariah,  and  Konieh  for  the  Turkish.  Empire. 
All  the  rest,  however  legitimate  may  be  the  Padishah's 
claims  for  it,  is  no  longer  to  be  held,  and  even  Bagdad, 
Diarbekir,  and  Orfa  are  mere  islands  in  a  strange 
Arabic-Kurdish  sea. 

If  we  consider  the  incalculable  consequences  which 
would  flow  from  the  sudden  disappearance  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  from  the  universal  concert  of  nations, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  European  statesman- 
ship tries  to  postpone  such  a  catastrophe  to  a  distant 
future.  But  has  not  the  dismemberment  of  bhe  Empire 
already  begun?     Does  not  the  tricolor  wave  in  Algiers 


296  The  Eastern  Question. 

and  the  palm  branch  on  the  Nile  ?  Has  not  Russia's 
frontier  advanced  from  the  Don  to  the  Pruth,  from  the 
Pruth  to  the  Danube,  and  beyond  the  Caucasus  ?  Is 
not  Morea  free  ?  and  do  the  principalities  obey  the 
firmans  of  the  Padishah?  Did  not  all  this  happen 
through  the  action  of  those  very  powers  who  proclaim 
the  integrity  of  the  Empire  and  the  legitimacy  of  her 
ruler  ?  And  would  it  not  be  advisable  to  prop  up 
other  separate  portions  of  the  old  rotten  building,  in 
order  that  when  the  threatened  collapse  occurs  they  may 
remain  standing,  and  not  cover  Europe  with  their  ruins  ? 
But,  unfortunately,  we  see  the  dissevered  provinces 
and  countries  under  the  influence  of  Russia,  France, 
and  England,  but  not  under  that  of  Germany.  It  is  a 
striking  fact  that  in  Turkey  we  always  hear  of  these 
three  powers,  but  never  of  Austria,  and  yet  the  latter 
should  be  held  in  greater  regard  there,  for  it  is  Austria's 
sworcl  which  will  some  day  be  thrown  into  the  scale 
to  decide  the  fate  of  this  Empire.  All  the  fleets  in  the 
world  can  neither  execute  nor  prevent  the  division  of 
Turkey ;  Austria's  armies  may  do  the  one,  and  can 
certainly  do  the  other.  How  much  of  the  noblest 
German  blood  has  been  shed  in  fruitless  expeditions  to 
Rome  ?  How  often  has  the  glorious  double  Eagle  been 
carried  over  the  Alps  only  to  be  repulsed  on  the  Italian 
soil,  which  it  was  so  difficult  to  reach  ?  Austria  has 
always  directed  her  attacks  against  the  West,  whilst  in 
the  East  she  only  defended  herself.  She  turned  her 
sword  to  the  West,  her  shield  towards  the  East.  This 
policy  seemed  to  be  justified,  as  on  the  one  side  there 
were  all  the  treasures  of  civilization  heaped  together, 
while  on  the  other  there  was  nothing  but  desolate 
regions  with  barbarous  inhabitants.  But  to-day 
Austria  has  her  share  in  the  Hesperian  gardens ;  the 
principalities  which  are  struggling  for  emancipation, 
especially  Servia,  throw  themselves  upon  her  protection 
only  to  be  repulsed.  Is  Russia  to  find  there  an  open 
field  for  the  still  further  extension  of  her  influence  ? 


The  Eastern  Question.  297 

What  German  heart  is  not  filled  with  sorrow  at  the 
sight  of  the  long  processions  of  our  countrymen,  who, 
with  their  wives  and  children,  their  goods  and  chattels, 
go  to  seek  a  new  home  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  ? 
Wallachia  is  a  country  wide  enough  to  receive  them 
all,  and  even  by  the  poorest  can  now  be  easily  reached 
in  a  few  days  at  small  expense  by  the  new  road  along 
the  Danube.  There  they  would  find  a  rich  soil,  nor 
would  they  miss  the  forests,  the  murmuring  streams, 
and  the  mountains  or  plains  of  their  homes.  They 
would  find  a  Christian  Government  and  the  beginnings 
of  order,  which  indeed  would  be  greatly  promoted  if 
the  privilege  of  hereditary  authority  were  conferred  on 
the  Hospodars,  a  privilege  which  the  cut-throat  on  the 
Nile  has  extorted  for  his  own  family  in  the  midst  of 
his  defeats.  By  concluding  treaties  with  the  philan- 
thropic Prince  Ghika,  by  abolishing  the  present  consular 
system  which  makes  all  immigration  a  burden  on  the 
Government,  by  appointing  an  embassy  armed  with 
the  powers  of  the  higher  law-courts  and  charged  to 
uphold  the  interests  of  the  colonists  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country,  industry  and  diligence  would  be 
ensured  that  safety  which  is  requisite  for  prosperity 
under  the  most  favourable  conditions.  Then  German 
industry  need  no  longer  flee  to  the  noxious  swamps  and 
the  glowing  sun  of  other  continents,  and  while  the 
German  language  would  be  heard  on  the  banks  of  the 
proud  Danube,  German  civilization  would  stretch  from 
the  Swabian  Mountains  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sulina. 


RESCHID,  IZZET,  AND  THE  PORTE. 

The  fall  of  Izzet  Mehmet  Pasha,  the  embittered  oppo- 
nent of  the  Christians,  has  excited  a  hope  in  ni;mv 
quarters   that   the    Porte  will   now   introduce  a  new 


298  The  Eastern   Question. 

system  of  Government,  which  may  end  the  precarious 
state  of  tilings  in  the  East.     But  for  Turkey  there  are 
really  only  two  systems,  and  Rescind  and  Izzet  are  their 
representatives.     As  the  present  state  of  affairs  did  not 
seem  to  contain  in  itself  any  guarantee  of  its  continu- 
ance,   those   two   men,   though    working    by  opposite 
methods,    were    both    attempting   to   make    it    more 
durable.     The    one    strove    to    advance   towards   the 
institutions  under  the   influence  of  which  he  had  seen 
the    Christian    nations   in    the   West    become    great, 
powerful,  rich,  and  far  superior  to  his  own.     The  other 
wished  to  return  to  the  principles  on  which  a  succes- 
sion   of  powerful   monarchs,   from    Sultan  Orchan  to 
Suliman    the  law-giver,  had   governed    the   East  vic- 
toriously and  happily.     Reschid  is,  without  doubt,  the 
best  educated  statesman,  in  the  European  sense  of  the 
word,  that  Turkey  has   possessed  up    to   the   present 
time,  and  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  this  honest,  zealous 
architect  did  not  work  along  with  the  strong*  but  ill- 
advised  destroyer  jiahmoud.      No  government  which 
was  not  strong  at  home   could  undertake  to   declare 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  its  Christian  subjects,  but 
at  the  moment  of  greatest  Aveakness  the  hattischerif  of 
G-ulhane  could  not  pass  beyond  the  walls  of  the  palace 
without  awakening;  the  discontent  of  those  to  whom  the 
rule  of  the  believers  over  the  Rajahs  was  both  a  precept 
of  religion  and  a  maxim  of  government,  without  call- 
ing forth  defiance,  opposition,  and  mutiny  among  the 
Christians  who  for  three  hundred  years  had  been  sorely 
oppressed  and  maltreated.     But  these  plans  were  never 
executed  ;  the  most  important  act  of  Reschid  was  in- 
disputably  his   attempt    to    raise    the   state   revenues 
directly,    which   would   not   only   have    doubled    the 
revenue  of  the  Government,  but  would  have  been  an 
enormous  relief  to  the  taxed.     If  this  enterprise  had 
succeeded,  it  would  have  been  possible  to  win  all  classes 
of  subjects  so  completely  that  the  step  might  have  been 
ventured  upon  of  inviting  the  Christians  to  share   the 


The  Eastern   Question.  299 

heaviest  of  state  burdens,  military  service.  By  this 
means  the  military  position  of  the  Empire  would  have 
assumed  an  entirely  different  aspect,  and  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  Rajahs  would  have  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course.  But  this  noble  intention  was  not  realised. 
The  Government  was  dismayed  by  the  financial  losses 
which  evidently  would  have  been  incurred  by  the  tran- 
sition from  the  old  system  of  anticipating  the  revenues 
to  the  new  one  ;  the  governors  of  the  provinces  and 
their  satellites  had  a  common  interest  against  this 
arrangement,  and  while  they  accepted  the  higher  pay, 
they  allowed  the  old  extortions  to  be  continued  ;  in 
short,  the  project  was  found  impracticable  even  during 
the  ministry  of  Rescind  himself,  principally  because 
there  was  a  lack  of  honest  officials,  who  cannot  be 
created  by  any  governmental  decree,  but  can  only  be 
trained  with  a  new  generation. 

The  views  of  Reschid  would  never  have  been  listened 
to  at  the  Divan  if  Turkey  had  not  been  in  such  a 
weak  condition  after  the  defeat  at  Nisib,  the  falling 
away  of  the  fleet,  and  the  death  of  Mahmoud.  As  soon 
as  Syria  had  been  conquered  by  the  Christians  and 
given  to  the  Turks,  the  Egyptians  humiliated,  and  in 
consequence  Europe  herself  threatened  with  a  quarrel 
amongst  her  great  powers,  the  Porte  quickly  passed 
over  to  a  new  system. 

It  cannot  be  disputed  that  with  Izzet  and  Tahir 
Pasha,  two  of  the  ablest  and  most  powerful  men  of 
the  old  school,  came  into  office,  but  it  is  just  such  men 
as  these  that  the  Porte  does  not  require  in  that  place, 
I K 'cause  they  entangle  her  in  quarrels  with  her  own 
and  foreign  countries,  to  Avhich  this  weak  government 
is  not  equal;  and  that  was  what  happened  when  the 
hopes  which  Reschid  had  fostered  in  the  Rajahs  were 
disappointed  by  his  successors.  Mildness  encouraged 
opposition,  severity  led  to  the  revolt  which  blazed  out 
in  Candia,  in  Lebanon,  and  in  the  Balkans.  To  this 
was  added  the  difference  with  the  Greek  Government, 


300  The  Eastern  Question. 

this  thorn  in  the  side  of  all  Mohammedans,  this  danger- 
ous example  of  a  successful  insurrection  of  Christian 
subjects,  where  not  even  outward  appearance  was  kept 
up  as  with  the  bastard  states  on  the  Danube.  It  is  true 
that  Izzet  tried  to  reform  the  finances  by  curtailing 
the  salaries,  which  in  Turkey  are  very  high,  but  very 
few  officials  receive  salaries  at  all ;  those  who  can,  pay 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  subjects.  No  other 
result,  therefore,  was  to  be  expected  from  this  measure 
beyond  the  discontent  of  a  few  magnates  at  Constanti- 
nople. But  the  fall  of  Izzet  was  principally  due  to  his 
misunderstandings  with  the  high  diplomacy  at  Pera, 
which  troubled  the  Porte  much  more  than  the  revolt  of 
a  few  provinces,  a  chronic  malady  to  which  the  Empire 
has  long  been  accustomed. 

The  attempts  which  Rescind  and  Izzet  made  on  oppo- 
site principles  have  effected  no  improvements  in  the 
internal  condition  of  the  country,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  impotence  of  the  Government  has  become  more 
evident,  the  complaints  of  the  Osmanli  louder,  and  the 
defiance  of  the  Rajahs  bolder.  It  would  be  quite  in 
accordance  with  the  character  of  the  Divan  to  abandon 
such  attempts  for  the  present,  let  matters  go  on  as  they 
are,  and  trust  Allah  for  the  rest.  Without  doubt,  we 
shall  shortly  see  such  combinations  as  Halil  and  Sayd 
Pashas,  Rauf  and  Akif  Pashas — and  whatever  may  be 
the  names  of  other  nonentities — succeed  each  other  in 
office  according  as  favour  and  intrigue  may  decide.  As 
for  old  Chosrev,  we  have  racked  our  brains  to  know 
whether  he  was  for  reform  or  for  reaction,  for  Russia  or 
for  France.  The  truth  is  that  he  has  no  opinions  at  all 
on  these  subjects,  except  that  he  himself  must  gain 
power  and  keep  it.  His  extensive  connections  in  all 
parts  of  the  Empire  make  him  fitter  than  anyone  else 
to  maintain  the  internal  tranquility  which  the  Porte  so 
much  needs,  nor  does  this  old  man  of  eighty  lack  either 
the  energy  of  character  or  the  ruthless  severity  which 
this  task  requires.     In  short,  Mehmet  Chosrev  is  the 


The  Eastern  Question.  301 

very  man  for  the  circumstances,  and  we  should  not  be 
at  all  surprised  to  see  him  again  in  the  seraskeriat  before 
long. 

But  what  a  state  of  things !  The  existence  of  the 
Porte  depends  upon  the  conservative  principles  of 
Europe,  and,  yet,  she  herself  tramples  upon  these  prin- 
ciples in  Servia  without  understanding  that  she  is 
undermining  her  own  ultimate  foundations.  The 
Empire  will  fall  to  pieces  as  soon  as  the  European 
powers  cease  to  agree  concerning  its  continuance  or 
come  to  an  agreement  concerning  its  end.  The  first 
contingency  might  arise  suddenly  and  unexpectedly,  a 
complication,  like  that  in  Servia,  might  be  the  cause, 
but  the  consequence  would,  in  such  a  case,  be  beyond 
all  calculations.  The  second  contingency  would  depend 
on  the  voluntary  action  of  the  European  cabinets,  and 
the  consequences  could  in  their  main  outlines  be  fore- 
seen, weighed,  and  regulated.  At  all  events  this  is  a 
catastrophe  which,  we  may  assume,  must  come.  The 
only  question  is  whether  to  put  it  off  indefinitely  and 
allow  ourselves  to  be  taken  by  surprise,  or  to  look  the 
danger  in  the  face  and  hasten  on  the  crisis  in  order  to 
remain  master  of  the  situation. 

We  have  already  drawn  attention  to  the  fact  that  on 
Asiatic  soil  there  are  still  to  be  found  many  germs  of 
life  favourable  to  the  continuance  of  Ottoman  su- 
premacy. Though  the  Turkish  population  is  here,  too, 
continually  decreasing  owing  to  well  known  causes, 
yet  it  is  still  numerous.  The  extensive  Armenian 
population  is  faithfully  devoted  to  the  Porte,  averse  to 
all  revolt,  and  patient  in  suffering  and  labour.  Except 
for  their  religion,  these  Armenians  are,  in  manner, 
custom,  habit,  inclination  and  views,  real  Turks,  so 
much  so,  that  they  speak  Turkish  more  than  their  own 
language.  At  Brussa  or  Koniah  the  Padishah  may  be 
able  to  reign  for  another  century  by  his  pashas  and 
mutselims,  by  farming  out  the  taxes,  raising  forced 
loans  or  firmans,  and  by  relying  upon  the  Ulemas  and 


302  The  Eastern  Question. 

tlie  Recliffs.  But  Egypt,  Palestine,  Syria  and  Adana, 
Arabia  and  Kurdistan,  Roumelia,  Bosnia,  and  the 
Danubian  principalities  are  already  slipping  from  his 
grasp.  All  these  countries  will,  without  fail,  pass  into 
strange  hands,  or  become  independent  under  foreign 
protection. 

It  may  be  said  that  we  are  shaking  the  bearskin 
before  killing  the  bear ;  but  Ave  are  convinced  that  the 
Porte  will  have  few  objections  to  urge  against  a  migra- 
tion to  its  native  soil  of  Asia  as  soon  as  an  Austro- 
Russian  army  appears  in  Bulgaria,  or  an  Anglo-French 
fleet  in  the  Sea  of  Marmora.  The  difficulty  does  not 
lie  in  the  conquest  of  Turkey,  but  in  the  division  of  the 
conquered  territory,  especially  as  Constantinople  is  the 
jewel  of  this  rich  crown,  which,  itself  indivisible,  is  of 
greater  value  than  all  the  rest.  In  our  opinion  the 
only  natural  and  possible  solution  of  this  problem  is  the 
formation  of  a  Christian  Byzantine  Empire  at  Con- 
stantinople, the  re -establishment  of  which  has  been 
already  begun  in  Hellas  by  the  will  of  Europe.  What- 
ever the  view  we  take  of  the  new  Greek  State,  no  one 
Avill  deny  its  growth  and  progress,  while  Turkey  is 
decaying  and  almost  dead.  The  eyes  of  the  Greeks  in 
Thessaly,  Macedonia,  and  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago 
are  turned  towards  Hellas,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  Slavonic  population  of  Bulgaria  itself  should  not 
prefer  to  join  a  Russo-Greek  rather  than  a  Byzantine- 
Greek  church,  should  not  rather  obey  the  Czar  than 
the  Sultan.  As  we  have  already  seen,  whenever  the 
reconstruction  of  Eastern  Europe  takes  place  the  rains  of 
the  old  edifice  will  suffice  to  compensate  both  those  who 
have  armed  for  the  fight,  and  those  who  have  taken  no 
share  in  it,  "11  y  en  a  pour  tons"  but  to  make  the  par- 
tition is  not  part  of  our  present  purpose.  Thus  much, 
however,  we  think  Ave  are  entitled  to  assert,  that  when 
the  sword  of  Eyoub  has  been  carried  0ATcr  the  Helles- 
pont back  to  the  land  Avhence  it  came  ;  Avhen  the  dome 
of  St.  Sophia  is  once  more  surmounted  by  that  cross  for 


The  Eastern   Question. 


0^0 


which  it  was  built ;  wheu  the  shores  of  the  two  Straits 
are  no  longer  obedient  to  one  will,  and  that  a  weak  one  ; 
and  when  the  two  inland  seas  are  opened  to  the  flags  of 
all  nations  ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  peace  of  the 
East  be  assured  for  a  long  series  of  years. 


THE   MOUTH   OF   THE   DANUBE. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  of  this  newspaper1  has, 
several  times  lately,  been  drawn  to  the  importance  of 
the  Danube,  as  the  principal  means  of  communication 
between  the  heart  of  Germany  and  the  East,  as  well  as  to 
the  obstacles  which  impede  free  navigation  at  the  mouths 
of  our  greatest  stream,  and  the  hope  has  been  raised 
that  the  latter  might  be  avoided  by  the  construction  of 
a  canal  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Trajan's  wall.  We 
cannot  share  this  hope,  as  personal  observation  has  con- 
firmed our  conviction  of  the  total  impracticability  of 
the  enterprise.  From  Widin  the  Danube  flows  for 
almost  thirty  miles  in  an  easterly  direction  through  the 
wide  valley  and  plain  between  the  Carpathian  moun- 
tains and  the  Balkans.  At  Rassova,  at  a  distance  of 
only  seven  miles  from  the  Black  Sea,  the  stream 
suddenly  changes  its  normal  course,  though  opposed  by 
nothing  more  than  a  gently  rising  tract  of  land  with  an 
even  and  sandy  surface.  But  more  than  this,  a  number 
of  shallow  lakes  and  a  stream  with  a  very  slight  fall 
seem  to  continue  the  immense  Danube  valley  to  the 
east  as  far  as  the  Euxine.  Even  where  this  valley  ends, 
at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  3000  paces  from  the  sea. 
and  half  a  mile  from  Port  Kustendje,  there  rise  no 
mountain  cones  or  rocky  walls,  but  the  valley  and 
banks   become   flatter  and   flatter   till    they  end    in    a 

1  Compare  Preface. 


304  The  Eastern  Question. 

gently  undulating  plain.  It  is  undeniable  that  on  the 
map  this  district  presents  the  exact  appearance  of  a 
branch  of  the  Danube  which  has  been  choked  up  by- 
sand,  where  the  lakes  are  due  to  the  remnant  of  the 
chalk  formation,  and  the  marshy  depressions  mark  out 
the  old  river-bed. 

From  Rassova  the  Danube  flows  due  north  and 
almost  parallel  to  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea  for  twenty 
German  miles,  as  far  as  Galatz  ;  thence  it  flows  for 
about  the  same  distance  through  the  reed-covered 
delta,  through  which  it  sends  three  arms.  As,  for  the 
present  at  any  rate,  the  steamers  of  the  Danube 
Navigation,  that  splendid  achievement  of  private 
enterprise,  proceed  in  the  first  place  to  Constantinople, 
they  are  compelled  after  leaving  Rassova,  to  perform  a 
journey  of  seventy  miles  through  the  Sulineh  mouth 
before  passing  Kustendje,  which  is  separated  from 
Rassova,  or,  more  accurately,  from  Boghas-Kjoi,  the 
Tchernavoda  of  the  maps,  by  a  distance  of  no  more 
than  seven  miles.  No  wonder  then,  that  there  is  a 
wish  for  a  canal  here  and  would  be  even  if  there  were 
no  other  difficulties  than  those  presented  by  the  Sulineh 
mouth. 

In  constructing  a  canal,  the  first  difficulty  to  be  con- 
sidered is,  whence  to  draw  the  water  to  feed  it.  Now 
the  Danube,  even  as  far  down  as  Isaktchi,  has  a  con- 
siderably rapid  fall,  and  a  very  natural  suggestion  is 
to  provide  the  new  channel  with  the  necessary  water 
from  the  rich  store  of  the  main  river.  In  this  case  locks 
would  be  needed  in  order  to  prevent  the  water  rushing 
too  powerfully  into  the  sea ;  for  though  the  Danube 
near  Isaktchi  has  but  one,  and  thence  to  the  mouth  but 
two  feet  of  fall  per  German  mile,  yet  thirty-five  feet  of 
total  fall  distributed  over  seven  German  miles,  would 
still  produce  a  considerable  current.  But  in  order  to 
feed  the  canal  with  the  waters  of  the  Danube,  a  neces- 
sary condition  would  be  that  its  bed  should  run  without 
any  rise,  but  rather  with  the  necessary  fall,  from  the  level 


The  Eastern  Question.  305 

of  the  Danube  near  Boghas-Kjoi  to  the  level  of  the  Black 
Sea,  at  a  depth  sufficient  for  navigation.  This  would 
necessitate  cutting  through  all  the  intervening  heights 
down  to  the  level  of  the  canal-bed.  These  heights  rise 
gently,  but  without  interruption  for  almost  seven  German 
miles,  for  their  culminating  point  lies  near  the  sea,  not 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  German  mile  distant  from  it. 
The  ground  slopes  towards  the  sea  for  a  short  dis- 
tance, and  then  suddenly  ends  in  perpendicular  cliffs, 
sixty  to  eighty  feet  in  height,  whose  bases  are  washed 
by  the  Euxine.  The  texture  of  this  mass  of  chalk- 
mountains,  and  its  continuity  which  is  nowhere  broken 
through  its  whole  thickness,  and  which  forms  the 
foundation  of  the  whole  of  Dobrudsha  and  Bulgaria, 

o  7 

shows  distinctly  that  there  can  never  have  been  a 
mouth  of  the  Danube  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Kustendje,  but  that  the  stream  has  been  diverted 
along  the  glacis-like  western  slope  of  a  low  range  of 
hills,  the  eastern  inclination  of  which  has  in  the  course 
of  centuries  been  for  the  greater  part  submerged  by 
the  sea. 

The  height  of  the  culminating  point  has  been  care- 
fully measured  from  the  shore.1  The  lowest  part  of  the 
ridge,  about  half  a  German  mile  west  of  Kustendje  is 
166  j^,  Prussian  duodecimal  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  From  that  point  the  valley  of  Karasu  descends  to 
the  Avest,  first  like  a  shallow  ditch,  then  between  rocks 
which  become  steeper  and  steeper,  but  without  water  for 
three  and  a-half  German  miles  to  Allakapu.  Below  this 
point  the  marshy  surface  of  the  valley  does  not  slope 
perceptibly  towards  the  Danube,  and  at  high  water  it 
is  flooded  by  the  stream.  On  the  east  the  descent 
towards  the  sea  is  much  more  rapid.  The  only  place 
within  a  short  distance  of  Kustendje,  where  the  sea  is 
not  bounded  by  an  uninterrupted  wall  of  chalk,  lies 

1  This  interesting  work  was  executed  by  Major  Baron  Von  Vincke 
in  the  year  1838. 

VOL.    I.  X 


306  The  Eastern  Question. 

three-quarters  of  a  German  mile  south  of  this  little 
town.  The  ground  is  there  hollowed  into  a  shallow 
cavity,  and  the  precipice,  still  fifty  feet  high,  is  formed 
of  layers  of  loam  and  clay.  No  continuous  indentation 
in  the  mountain  ridge  or  interruption  in  the  founda- 
tion of  the  chalk  rocks  is  to  be  perceived  even  here. 

It  is  clear,  from  what  has  been  said,  that  this  ridge  161 
feet  high,  would  have  to  be  excavated  to  a  depth  of  ten 
feet  below  the  lowest  water-mark  of  the  Danube.  But 
now  imagine  a  cutting,  whose  length  from  Allakapu  to 
the  sea  would  be  three  and  a-half  German  miles,  whose 
greatest  depth  would  be  171  feet  deep,  and  whose  upper 
width  at  this  deepest  part  would  need  to  be  at  least  600 
feet,  excavated  too,  at  least  for  the  greater  part,  out  of 
the  solid  rock ! 

For  these  reasons  no  objection  on  the  part  of  the 
Russians  to  the  draining  off  of  the  waters  of  the 
Danube  from  Rassova  need  trouble  us  much. 

There  are  canals  as,  for  example,  the  Trollhatta  in 
Sweden,  which  surmount  higher  hills  than  those  which 
are  the  cause  of  the  circuitous  course  of  the  Danube. 
But  in  those  cases  there  must  be  on  the  heights  them- 
selves large  reservoirs  or  considerable  supplies  of  water 
sufficient  to  fill  the  canal  and  to  make  good  the  loss 
which  is  incurred  by  evaporation  and  the  use  of  the 
locks  through  which  in  this  case  the  vessels  ascend  or 
descend  step  by  step.  But  the  lakes  of  Tchernavoda 
and  Karasu  lie  almost  at  the  same  level  as  the  surface 
of  the  Danube  near  Boghas-Kjoi,  the  tributary  stream, 
which  is  quite  insignificant,  and  on  the  heights  them- 
selves there  are  for  miles  and  miles  neither  brooks  nor 
ponds  nor  lakes.  The  Dobrudsha,  though  surrounded 
by  water  on  all  sides,  is  a  district  most  scantily  supplied 
with  water.  During  the  summer  there  is  not  a  drop 
of  it  in  the  valleys,  every  trace  of  watercourse  dis- 
appears, and  in  the  villages  which  lie  at  great  distances 
from  one  another,  the  drinking  water  is  drawn  up  from 
the  wells  by  ropes  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  in  length. 


The  Eastern  Question.  307 

It  is  not  impossible  that  there  may  be  a  point  on  the 
ridge  lower  than  the  one  measured,  somewhere  to  the 
south  of  it,  and  forming  the  head  of  a  valley,  deviating 
from  the  Karasu  Valley  near  Umurdsha  Saya,  in  the 
direction  of  Lascale  and  the  Tekirajol,  and  it  would  be 
interesting  if  this  region  too  could  be  carefully  levelled. 
So  much  is  certain,  there  is  no  real  gap  in  the  mountain 
ridge  there,  and  very  probably,  what  was  saved  in  the 
depth  of  the  excavations  would  be  lost  again  owing  to 
the  considerable  increase  in  length. 

But  next  to  the  construction  of  a  canal,  hopes  have 
been  raised  by  the  project  of  a  railway  in  the  direction 
of  Trajan's  wall.  Travellers  can  be  taken  on  an  im- 
proved road  from  Rassova  to  Kustendje  in  four  hours. 
By  rail  it  would  be  done  in  an  hour  and  a-half  less. 
But  in  a  journey  from  Vienna  or  Pesth  to  Constanti- 
nople a  saving  of  two  hours  and  a-half  is  of  no  great  im- 
portance, and  it  would  require  a  much  greater  increase 
in  the  goods  traffic  than  there  is  at  present  any  reason 
to  expect,  to  stand  the  expense  of  a  double  trans-ship- 
ment. The  construction,  maintenance  and  working  of 
a  railway  in  this  out-of-the-way  and  desolate  district 
would  be  very  expensive.  Add  to  this  the  bad  condi- 
tion of  the  harbour  of  Kustendje,  which  is  shallow, 
narrow  and  quite  unprotected  from  the  eastern  and 
southern  gales.  The  little  town  has  lain  in  ruins  since 
1829,  and  was  in  1838  only  inhabited  by  forty  families. 
Everything  there  would  need  to  be  created  from  the 
beginning.  Therefore  it  would  be  better  not  to 
harbour  delusions  and  unfounded  expectations,  but  to 
look  for  the  real  difficulties  where  they  are  to  be  found, 
that  is,  in  the  nature  of  the  navigation  through  the 
Sulineh  mouth.  The  local  obstacles  there  are  much 
smaller  than  is  generally  supposed  *  and  far  less  im- 
portant than  those  encountered  in  the  middle  course  of 


1  Compare    "Briefe    iiber   Zustande   und   Begebenheiten    in    tier 
Turkei  ana  den  Jaliren  1835  bis  1839." 


30S  The  Eastern  Question. 

that  stream,  Avhich  are  described  in  an  interesting  article 
published  in  this  paper  not  long  ago.  They  could  be 
overcome  with  the  tenth  part  of  the  expenditure  that  a 
railway  or  a  canal  from  Boghas-Kjoi  to  Kustendje 
would  entail.  But  to  tell  the  truth  it  is  not  these 
difficulties  of  which  people  are  afraid  but  the  real  or 
imaginary  encroachments  of  Russia,  the  quarantine- 
stations  on  both  sides  of  the  Sulineh,  provided  with 
cannon  and  situated  in  a  boggy  lowland  of  ten  miles, 
which,  according  to  the  treaty  of  Adrianople,  is  to  be 
left  uninhabited,  the  attempts  to  subject  Austrian 
steamers  to  a  visitation,  and  similar  drawbacks. 

In  case  of  a  war  Trajan's  wall  will  not  be  sufficient 
to  stop  the  Russian  armies  or  to  cover  the  much  dis- 
cussed new  commercial  road.  The  Dobrudsha  is  a 
deserted  district  with  an  adsurdly  thin  population. 
It  is  flanked  on  one  side  by  Wallachia  and  on  the  other 
by  the  sea,  both  of  which  are  dominated  by  Russia. 
Hirsova,  Isaktchi,  Matchin  and  Tuldsha  have  been 
razed.  Before  Kustendje  are  the  opening  Russian  mines, 
looking  as  if  they  had  been  blasted  but  yesterday.  It 
seems  as  if  the  Porte  meant  to  rely  for  her  defence  on 
the  Balkans,  on  Varna  and  Shumla.  She  will  occupy 
the  places  on  the  middle  course  of  the  Danube  as 
advanced  posts,  but  certainly  will  not  keep  an  army  to 
hold  the  Dobrudsha.  However,  in  time  of  peace  we 
must  and  may  hope  that  Austria  will  protect  the  rights 
and  future  of  the  Danubian  countries,  and  that  Ger- 
many in  the  end  will  succeed  in  liberating  the  mouths 
of  her  great  rivers. 


THE    END. 


DATE  DUE 

GAYLORD 

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